Playmakers
by InvestInLove
Summary: After college, Kelsi comes back to Albuquerque engaged to a guy who's abusive and controlling. Jason Cross is the one person who can save her, but will he,or will it be too late? Jelsi! Minor Troyella, Chaylor, and Zekepay.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

**I came up with the idea for this over the summer. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was riding in the car with my friend and one of her friends and the radio was on, and suddenly I hear "Playmakers" and I learned that it was a restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina, and suddenly the idea just came to me. I started writing it over the summer- like two paragraphs- and then I forgot about it until a few months ago. Now that I've found my first draft, I realized I'm SO unbelievably happy I didn't use it. It was horrible. This is my absolute favorite thing I've ever written by a mile. I'm so excited about it. I get ideas for it nearly everyday. Okay- I'm now done raving about it. Sorry for bragging. I'm just excited. Alright. Alright. Shutting up… now.**

Kelsi Nielson, soon to be Kelsi Jacobs, stared out the window of her fiancé, Robbie's, truck as they drove through the streets of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She hadn't been there since Christmas of her junior year of college, which was nearly a year and a half before, and now she was moving back.

At the beginning of her senior year, she met Robbie Jacobs. He was a like a dream come true, especially since she'd never had a serious boyfriend all through high school. At one time she liked Jason Cross and thought he liked her too, but nothing ever came out of it. Through college, she'd been on a few dates, but she never found anyone she liked enough to go out with a second time. Then she met Robbie.

-Flashback-

_It was the second week of her senior year, and Kelsi was walking back to her dorm. She was digging through her bag, and not looking where she was going, when suddenly she made contact with another person._

_Looking up she saw that it was Robbie. She had seen him around, but never actually talked to him, since she majored in composition and he majored in theater._

_She immediately started apologizing and bent down to help him pick up his and papers, which she had caused him to drop. He bent down beside her, laughing, and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and found herself staring into his clear green eyes, and couldn't help but to smile shyly. _

"_It's okay." He said, grabbing his books and standing up. "I mean…I guess I'll forgive you…if you go out with me tomorrow night?" She thought it was a little cheesy, but in a way, still cute._

_She stood up slowly, smiling. "Uhm, okay." She said._

"_Your name's Kelsi, right?" He asked. She was a little surprised he knew her name, since not many people did, and she felt good knowing that he had noticed her before._

"_Yeah, and your Robbie?" He nodded._

"_So…I'll pick you up in front of your dorm at 7:30?" She liked the way he didn't just immediately expect to her to agree to it, and instead said it like a question._

"_Yeah, okay." She would have told her which dorm was hers, but somehow she had a feeling that he already knew._

_She watched him disappear in the other direction and something in her said she'd finally met the right guy. She involuntarily touched the place on her shoulder where his hand had been only moments ago and a huge grin spread across her face. _

"_Finally," She'd thought. "I've found the perfect guy."_

-End Flashback-

She looked over at him, his eyes on the road, dark and cold, which was now the way they seemed to look most of the time. He looked over at saw her looking at him so she faked a smile.

"What are you thinking about, babe?" He asked, and she relaxed a little. He was in a good mood.

"Just about how different this place looks since I went to school here." She said. "I didn't realize how much I missed it."

"Yeah, its nice." She could tell he was only half listening to her, so she let the conversation drop before she ended up saying something stupid.

She turned her focus out the window and suddenly gasped. "Oh my god." She whispered, without even realizing it until afterwards.

"What is it?" Robbie asked.

"Oh…its nothing." She said quickly.

He looked at her for a few seconds and she forced herself to look in the opposite direction.

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes and shook his head and she nervously bit her lip. She knew that something bad would have happened if he hadn't been driving.

She tried to keep the look of shock off her face, but she was amazed at what she had just seen. It was a restaurant called Playmakers- which was exactly what Jason Cross had called her after the final basketball game of her junior year of high school. She thought it was a strange coincidence- but only a coincidence. There was no way anyone would ever name a restaurant after her.

After a few minutes they pulled into a nice condo complex that had definitely not been there the last time she was.

Robbie got out of the truck without saying a word and slammed the door, making her jump. She got out after him and saw him taking boxes out of the back of the truck. Their furniture was on the way and was supposed to be there in the next few hours, but they had taken some of the smaller things with them.

"Here." He said, shoving a box in her arms. It was so heavy she nearly fell over from the extra weight, but she didn't complain. Of course, their condo was on the second floor, which meant she had to carry it up the stairs. Robbie had the key, so she just sat it down by the door.

Looking around at the place that was going to be her new home, she was reminded of the first time she'd been to Robbie's off-campus apartment.

It was after their third date when things were still good. They layed on the couch and watched movies, cuddling. He hadn't tried to make it anything more, and she was so happy she'd finally found a guy who was different.

"Kelsi!" She heard coming from the parking lot. She suddenly realized that she'd been standing there a lot longer than she should have.

"I'm coming!" She yelled and starting running down the stairs. One of the things she had learned about him a long time ago was that he was very impatient.

"What the hell were you doing up there?" He asked when she got there. "Get another box. We don't have all day."

She didn't say anything back and went to get another box. She knew better by then not to talk back.

As she passed where he was standing, leaning up against the side of his truck, he stuck his foot out. Next thing she knew, she was on her hands and knees on the pavement.

"Well," He said, looking down at her, eyes showing no sign of remorse. "Get going." She looked up at him, his eyes dark and angry, burning into hers, and suddenly she couldn't believe what she had become.

**I was planning on waiting until I finished at least one other story to put this up, but I can't. I just can't do it. I want to know if other people even like the idea because more than anything I want to keep writing- but if no one likes it, I guess I shouldn't bother and just keep it going in my head, outside of fanfiction, because no matter what anyone elses response is I'm not going to completely give up on this. I've worked too hard not to. So please, do me a favor and review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I would have had this up by Wednesday, maybe even TUESDAY...but nooo. I didn't have access to a computer until today. But believe me, my main focus has been this story! By the way; I'm almost done with Chapter 3 :)**

A few hours later, after the furniture movers had came and went, Kelsi and Robbie had finished getting all the boxes out of the truck and Kelsi was unpacking plates and putting them in the cabinets.

After the incident earlier, Robbie was in a sweet mood. It was exactly what he always did- hit her, then act like the perfect guy. He would go out of the way to try and make it up to her- take her out, buy her things- but he rarely ever apologized. At first he had, usually multiple times, but now he felt like he didn't have to. He knew she would stay with him no matter what, especially since they were engaged.

"Hey babe." He said, walking up behind her and slipping his arms around her waist.

She looked up at him, smiling, and he started to help her put the plates away. He started filling up the high shelves, which she couldn't reach, since he was nearly a foot taller than her.

They were reaching up at the same time when his elbow accidentally hit her arm, causing her to drop the plate she was holding, which just happened to be Robbie's great-grandmother's. It fell to the floor and shattered, and she could practically feel the anger radiating off him.

He threw the plate he'd been holding, which, of course, was just a plain one, and it hit the wall with a crash, also shattering all over the floor.

"Damnit!" He yelled, "You can't do anything right!" The back of his hand made contact with her face, causing her to fall backwards and hit her head on the edge of the counter, then land in the shattered glass.

He stood over her, seeming not to care that she was lying on the floor crying. He turned around and look at the glass covering the floor and a look of disgust crossed his face.

"Get up." He said. "And clean up this mess." He walked out of the kitchen, grabbing a beer on his way out, then walking out the front door.

She forced herself to sit up and lean against the cabinets. She felt blood on the back of her head where it had hit the counter and her arm was bleeding, some shards of glass still stuck in her skin.

That wasn't the worst he'd ever done to her; it was even close. She remembered in the beginning how the abuse only happened every week or two. Now he hit her everyday. It was like he was looking for any excuse to hurt her.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and thought back to how bad it had gotten since the first time he'd hit her.

-Flashback-

_"Okay, guys! See you tomorrow!" Ryan called. He was directing choreography for a play and Kelsi was playing the piano._

_As all the other students walked out, Ryan came and sat back Kelsi on the piano bench._

_"You know, you're a really good choreographer." She said. "They really seem to pick up the things you teach them fast." _

_"Well you aren't so bad on that piano." He said with a smile. "Whats that?" He pointed to another piece of music paper sitting behind the ones she was supposed to be playing for the show._

_"Oh, uhm, nothing. Just something I've been working on." She said._

_"Can I hear it?" Ryan asked. He had been the only one who had ever showed any interest in her music._

_"No, sorry. It's not done yet." It really wasn't. Of course, that wasn't the real reason she didn't want him to hear was because it was too personal- it was talking about how amazing her relationship with Robbie was feeling and she wasn't sure she wanted to share that with anyone yet._

_"Come on, please?" He asked._

_"No." She took her phone out of her bag and checked the time. "Crap. I have to go. I was supposed to meet Robbie out front five minutes ago."_

_"Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you later." They both stood up._

_"Yeah." Ryan leaned in to hug her. She didn't really think anything of it. They had been friends for years, so it never really meant anything, but of course, Robbie chose that second to walk in._

_"Kelsi!" She heard a voice yell. She immediately pulled away from the hug and walked over to where Robbie was standing._

_"Sorry, I didn't realize what time it was." She said._

_He didn't say anything back to her. Instead he just walked outside. She looked back at Ryan one more time before following him outside. She could tell he was mad, but it was the first time he'd ever seemed anything but happy since they'd been together, so she didn't know what to expect._

_"What the hell was that?" Suddenly he'd turned around and looked at her. His voice was low and angry and his eyes were dark and menacing. _

_"What are you taking about?" Kelsi asked, confused._

_"You know exactly what I'm talking about?" He screamed. Then he hit her. It took her a few seconds to process it as she stumbled backwards and almost fell._

_She was speechless. She couldn't believe it had really happened...that the guy she thought was perfect had turned into a monster right before her eyes. _

_Suddenly the anger melted from his face as he saw what he'd done. In the next second, his arms were her and he was whispering "I'm sorry," over and over again as she just stood there, unable to move._

_They ended up not going out that night. They went to his apartment and just talked. She decided to forgive him and she stupidly believed him when he promised he'd never do it again. And he didn't- for two more weeks. _

_After that, it was all downhill._

-End Flashback-

She slowly lifted herself off the floor. He could be back soon and the last thing she wanted was for something else to happen.

As she cleaned up she thought for the millionth time about leaving him. She knew she couldn't though- if she ran he'd find her. After all, how could she survive on her own? She had no job, no money, and no place of her own to live.

She was stuck in a relationship that felt like hell and she had no way to get out.

**Well the last part could have been better....but its not the worst thing I've ever written. Remember- Reviews are inspiration! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**I just have to say that I love, love, love writing this story- you have no idea how much. I hope everyone likes it :)**

Kelsi and Robbie were walking out to the car that night for another one of his "makeup" dinners, when a little girl came running up to them.

"'Scuse me?" She tugged on the bottom of Robbie's jacket. "Are you the man that yells a lot?" She couldn't have been more than 5 or 6. Her blue eyes were wide and stood out against her blonde hair.

"Ryleigh Elizabeth!" Kelsi heard from behind her.

"Sharpay?" She looked back at the little girl who held a strong resemblance to her.

"Kelsi! Hey!" Sharpay enveloped her in a hug and she tried not to wince in pain. "This is my daughter, Ryleigh." She said as they broke apart.

"You named her after Ryan, right?" Kelsi asked. She could practically feel Robbie tense up at the mention of Ryan's name.

"Yeah, and my middle name is Leighann." She said.

She remembered Ryan telling her about Sharpay's engagement-and how she found out he was cheating on her a month before they were planning to get married. Unfortunately, by the time she found out, she was already pregnant.

"I'm turning six tomorrow." Ryleigh said, smiling.

"You should come by." Sharpay said excitedly. "We're having a party for her tomorrow. Everyone will be there: Gabi, Troy, Ryan, Zeke, Chad, Taylor, and Jason."

Kelsi's heart skipped a beat at the sound of Jason's name. "Yeah...maybe I will." She said.

"Well, if you do end up stopping by we're in 2B and if you can't make it just call. My cell numbers the same as it was in high school." Sharpay said.

"Uhm, babe. We really should get going. Our reservations are at 7." Robbie said. Kelsi could tell he was trying to keep his cool.

"Okay." She turned back to Sharpay. "Bye, Sharpay. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow or something."

Sharpay's daughter, Ryleigh, was looking at them suspiciously as a 5 year old could. "You didn't answer my question." Sharpay was confused, having not been over there when she asked in the first place.

"Sweetie, they have to go." Sharpay said. "But you'll see Kelsi tomorrow." As Sharpay led her away, she stomped her foot and Kelsi could hear her complaining about something. She had to smile- Ryleigh was already starting to be just like Sharpay.

She followed Robbie to the truck, hoping the run-in hadn't just ruined their night.

"So," He said once they got in. "Thats Ryan's sister." Kelsi's heart skipped a beat. She knew Robbie hated Ryan more than anything.

For a few minutes, it was silent. "The walls must be pretty thin." He said, referring to what Ryleigh said. Kelsi had also been surprised that anyone could hear them.

"Yeah." Kelsi said. She didn't know what else to say. The last thing she wanted to do was make him mad.

"I hope you don't think you're going to that thing tomorrow." He said, keeping his eyes on the road.

Her heart sank. She had been thinking of going since she hadn't seen anyone but Ryan since high school. She didn't say anything back to him as they pulled in the parking lot of the restaurant, which was also new and obviously, really expensive. She knew that if she argued there would problems, and that was the last thing she wanted to happen.

Through the meal he didn't bring up anything else about and neither did she. She wondered if they could make it that whole day without anything happening- it was a rare thing, but sometimes it happened. She just had to be careful not to piss him off.

"Did you plan on going?" He asked on the ride home. Her heart stopped. If she lied, he would know- he could always just tell.

"I was thinking about it." She said nervously.

He turned to look at her, giving her a look that said she'd made a big mistake. "Which one is it?"

"Huh?" Kelsi asked.

"Which one of those guys. Obviously your going there to see one of them." Her breath caught it her throat.

"None of them! I just miss all my friends. I haven't seen any of them in over a year!" She said.

"I thought you'd know by now that you can't lie to me." Her heart starting beating so fast that she thought he might be able to hear it.

"I'm not lying. I promise." She hoped the panic wasn't showing in her voice, but she hadn't realized until that moment just how much she really wanted to see Jason.

"We'll talk about it later." He said coldly. She relaxed a little. Even though he didn't show it, she knew by then that meant he'd drop the subject. As long as she didn't go, he wouldn't bring it up again.

A little while after she got home, her mom called.

_"Hey, sweetie. I got your message. Do you think I can see you sometime soon?"_

"Sure. I'm not busy, so I'll stop by whenever you want."

_"How about tomorrow? Oh, and do you think Robbie can come with you? It would be nice to see him since your getting married to him in a few months and I've only met him twice."_

"Tomorrow's fine with me, but I'll have to ask him. He starts work soon, and I don't know if he can do it tomorrow. He's in the shower now, but I'll call you back in a few minutes."

_"Okay. I love you, sweetie."_

"I love you too, Mom."

As she hung up she realized how much she missed her mom. They had always been close when she was growing up and she'd barely been able to see her in the past few years. After Robbie confirmed that he'd be able to go, she called back.

They decided that they'd go over to her Mom's house to eat lunch, and even though Kelsi was a little nervous bringing Robbie with her, she was excited about seeing her.

After that, she realized she'd have to call Sharpay and tell her she wasn't going, but at least she'd have a real excuse and she wouldn't have to lie.

Sharpay seemed a little disappointed, but she said she understood. Kelsi was practically begging her not to bring up Jason again and thankfully, she didn't. But as she hung up, she regretted not being able to go. She knew it was wrong to want to see an old crush since she was engaged, but she had never gotten over him completely.

As she went to bed that night, she couldn't help but think that maybe Jason was the one person who could save her.

**SORRY! This would have been up BEFORE Christmas, but unfortunately I didn't have interenet access until today. The end of this chapter was really crappy, but I didn't know how else to end it. I haven't actually started Chapter 4 yet, but I do have a few ideas for it...okay, okay...I have one. :) But it should be up soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**I'M SORRY! I would have updated a LOT sooner if I would have had access to a computer! I will update faster though; I _promise._**

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The next day, Kelsi and Robbie were driving to Kelsi's mom's house.

"Does your mom like me?" She was surprised by the question. She never thought he really cared about her mom opinion, or anyone elses for that matter.

"Uhm, I think so." Kelsi said. "But she doesn't really know you. That's why she wanted us to come over."

"Oh." That was the last of the conversation until they got there.

As they walked to the door, Kelsi started to get nervous. Because she had always been close to her mom, she was afraid she might be able to tell something wasn't right with their relationship.

"Don't mess up, baby." Robbie whispered through his teeth as she rang the doorbell.

Her mom was at the door in less than two seconds. "Sweetie! How have you been?" She grabbed Kelsi and wrapped her in a hug. Kelsi hugged back and tried her hardest not to wince.

"Great." She lied, forcing a smile.

She turned to Robbie. "We've met before...briefly. Do you remember me?" She didn't wait for a response. "Paige Nielson." She stuck her hand out, smiling.

Kelsi couldn't help but smile too. Her mom had always been very talkative, optimistic, and high energy- just about the opposite of her.

Robbie looked slightly amused and he shook her hand. "Robbie Jacobs."

"Come on in. Sit down. Lunch is almost-," Suddenly there was a bang from the kitchen. "Shit!" She said. "Sorry about that. Excuse me. I'll be right back."

The second she left the room, they both burst on laughing. She was always having disasters when she tried to cook, which is why they usually ordered something or went out when Kelsi was growing up.

They went and sat at the dining room table and in a few minutes, Mrs. Nielson walked in carrying what looked like chicken, green beans, macaroni and cheese, and rolls.

"Sorry about that. I left the macaroni boiling to long and it bubbled over and the stupid lid fell off." She looked flustered as she sat down at the table.

"Have you seen any of your old friends yet?" Mrs. Nielson asked once they'd helped themselves to the food.

"I saw Sharpay yesterday. Her condo's right next to ours. I haven't seen anyone else yet, though." Kelsi said.

"Oh. Well isn't it horrible what happened to Sharpay? She was with uh, what was his name?" She asked.

"Uh...Kenny? Or something like that?" She said.

"Yeah. That's right. But can imagine? Being pregnant with a guys baby and about to be married and then finding out he's cheating on you? That must feel horrible."

"Yeah, but Sharpay's always been tough. And it's not like she needs help with money. Her parents are rich enough to give her whatever she needs."

"Robbie, has Kelsi ever played the piano for you? She's amazing." Mrs. Nielson had always had a hard time sticking with one subject.

"Yeah, she is." He said and Kelsi felt a little bit of pride when he smiled like he meant it. "She plays all the time." But Kelsi had to stop herself from rolling her eyes- he'd never asked to hear her play- sure she'd do it sometimes just for practice, but mostly she did it when he wasn't home.

"You know, when Kelsi was young, I used to play. She loved it and I started to give her lessons when she was give. She picked it up really fast. She even used to correct my mistakes." Mrs. Nielson said.

_And now he correct mines. _Kelsi wanted to say. Of course, piano was the only thing he didn't correct her on- he didn't know anything about it. Sometimes she thought that was the only reason she still played- because it was the one thing he didn't have control over.

She looked over at him and wondered how he could just sit there, calmly, talking to her mom when he was treating her the way he did. She knew how it easy it must have been for him to major in acting; he acted everyday. He acted like he really loved her. He acted like he was sorry for what he did to her. He acted like he was the perfect guy; and everyone was falling for it but her.

They stayed there for a little while longer making casual conversation. Nothing that he said made Mrs. Nielson even a little suspicious and Kelsi realized she was a little disappointed. Obviously, her mom didn't know her as well as she thought.

When they finally left, she was relieved the whole thing was over. The whole time, she had been afraid of saying something stupid.

"You picked a good one." Mrs. Nielson said as they were walking out. All Kelsi could do was fake a smile and pretend she was right.

"Your mom seemed nice." Robbie said when they got in the car.

"Yeah." Kelsi said. "She likes you."

He smiled and she had to smile too. She was happy that Robbie wanted approval from her mom.

"You should play for me when we get home." He said after a few minutes.

"What?" In all the time they'd been together, he'd never actually asked her to play the piano for him. It was something she'd always wanted him to do because it was the one thing she had always taken pride in.

"Uhm...okay. Yeah. I will." She said, still trying to get over the shock. The truth was that she was a little nervous. Sure, she had played in front of hundreds, maybe even thousands of people so by then all her stage fright was mostly gone- but the idea of playing in front of only him was making her stomach do flips.

But then he looked over at her and smiled, the smile that used to make her melt, and she swore she saw just a glimpse of the old Robbie again.

For the first time in what felt like forever, she felt hope. Hope that things might finally get better.

* * *

**So the ending sounded better as I was writing it- now it doesn't sound so hot, but oh well. This is my favorite story I've ever written, by the way, and I definitely take a lot of pride in it! Reviews are inspiration! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Sorry for not updating sooner- I just got fewer reviews for the last chapter which made me a lot less motivated to start typing this chapter. **

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As the sun shone through the windows of her bedroom, Kelsi smiled. The night before had gone amazing with Robbie. He had actually cooked dinner for her, which was something he hadn't done since the beginning of their relationship.

After that, they had stayed up until the early hours of the morning messing around with her piano. She played him things she'd written in high school and things she'd written more recently. He'd even asked her to teach him how to play, although she realized as soon as she started that he was definitely not musically gifted.

She got up and found and laying on the counter from Robbie, telling her that he'd started his new job that say and that he was taking her out that night- and not even to make up for anything, for once.

She didn't know what she do all day since they were already unpacked. She decided to go out and see how much Albuquerque had changed since she'd been gone. She also decided she would call Sharpay and see if she could stop by and see her- hopefully then she would be satisfied that they'd done something together.

After getting ready, she called Sharpay- that way she could just get it over with.

She picked up on the first ring. "Hello?" She answered cheerily.

"Hey Sharpay." Kelsi said, suddenly feeling nervous. "Are you busy today?"

"Nope." Sharpay said. "I just dropped Ryleigh off at school and I don't have to pick her up until 3:30."

"Well you said you wanted to catch up...so do you want to do something later?" She asked.

"Sure!" Sharpay said. "Do you want to go get lunch? Around one or so?"

"Uhm, yeah. Thats fine." Kelsi said.

"Okay!" Sharpay said enthusiastically. "I know the perfect place! Do you want to drive separately? Or do you want me to pick you up? Well maybe I should drive because I know where the place is. You probably don't. It's new." Kelsi had to smile. Sharpay was possibly even more talkative and energetic than she had been in high school. It was good to see that some things never changed.

"Uh...Okay then." Kelsi said. "What's it called?" She had a weird feeling she already knew the answer.

"Playmakers." Even though she'd been expecting it, her heart dropped to her feet. Just the name of it made her feel nervous and she had no idea why.

"Kelsi? Are you still there?" She hadn't realized until then that she'd been dead silent.

"Yeah." She somehow managed to choke out.

"That's okay, right?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's fine. I haven't been there yet, but I did it see it as we were getting here. It looks really nice." Kelsi had always had the bad habit of talking when she was nervous, and she really hoped her voice didn't sound as high and unnatural as she thought it did.

"Yeah, it is." Sharpay said. "Zeke owns it."

Well, that made sense. Playmakers, basketball. She started to get a little less nervous. Maybe the fact that Jason had called her that really did have nothing to do with it. But she had to admit that she was a little disappointed-no, she pushed those feelings away as fast as they came. She wasn't in love with Robbie, not Jason...

* * *

One o'clock came ten times faster than she'd hoped it would and before she knew she was sitting in Sharpay car- which was, fortunately, not the pink one she'd had in high school, but a little, silver, expensive looking car.

Sharpay chattered on all the way to restaurant and Kelsi did her best to look interested, nodding when it seemed appropriate and asking a few questions, but never really listening to the answers.

When they arrived, Kelsi's heart starting beating so fast and loud she was afraid Sharpay might be able to hear it.

"Oh, and by the way..." Sharpay said as they were walking in. "Jason's the co-owner."

"What?" All the people sitting anywhere near the door turned to stare, making Kelsi realize she'd been a little louder than she'd thought. She instantly felt her face turn red, but she looked over at Sharpay and found her laughing, obviously finding the whole situation amusing.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kelsi asked.

"Because I knew you wouldn't come. I'm not blind. I saw that look in your eyes the other night when I said his name." She said. "But I just figured that with you being engaged and all you wouldn't want to be, uh, tempted."

"Well you still could have-" And that was when she saw him, walking out of the kitchen along with Zeke. She suddenly couldn't feel anything. Couldn't hear anything. Couldn't see anything but him.

His smile grew bigger as he walked towards her. Apparently, Sharpay had already informed them about the visit. "Hey." Was all he had to say and she felt her heart melt.-and felt that nagging sense of regret that told her she should have tried for something for with him. And for the millionth time she wondered how different her life would be if she was with him instead of Robbie.

He hugged and she felt herself melt in his embrace. "How are you?" He asked after they broke apart.

"Good." She said smiling shyly.

He smiled again. "Come sit down. Have lunch with me. We can catch up."

"Okay." She looked around for Sharpay and Zeke, but they were already sitting down at a two-person table.

As she walked to sit down with him the butterflies in her stomach were stronger than when she'd played in front of a crowd of people for the first time.

"So," He said once they sat down. "I heard you got engaged."

The guilty feeling started to come back. She shouldn't be there- sitting at table with a guy other than her fiancée. Its not like she was cheating on Robbie. She was just catching up with an old friend- who she happened to still have feeling for.

"Yeah." She faked a smile.

"So who is this guy? And does he treat you okay?" He asked and she could see that he really cared which made the fact that she was going to have to lie to him even harder to handle.

"His name's Robbie. And of course he treats me okay." She said, trying not to sound nervous. "If he didn't, do you really think I'd be engaged to him." When she saw the expression on his face, she could tell that saying that had been a little too much for just a simple question.

"No. Of course not. That was a dumb question." She was relieved to see that he had, obviously, that whatever he had decided against whatever he'd been thinking. "Do you still play the piano?"

Great. Change of subject- hopefully that meant no more awkward questions about Robbie. As she sat there and talked with him she realized how happy he made her. There were only rare moments when she was with Robbie that she was ever half that happy.

Unfortunately, she got so caught up in the conversation that she didn't notice when a very familiar person walked in.

* * *

Since it was his first day at his new job, some people from Robbie's work decided to take him out to lunch.

As he walked in Playmakers, he did a double take. Could it be? No, there was no way Kelsi could be there, sitting at a table with another man, but as he took another look, he knew it was her- even though he could only see her from the back.

_No need to make a scene in front of all these people_, he decided as he walked into the private room with the rest of his coworkers. _But there's definitely going to be a long conversation about this later._

Let her sit there a cheat on him. Let her be a whore. She didn't know it yet, but there would be consequences very, very soon.

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**Okay, so Robbie's part was really hard to write. I mean, I don't know how crazy people like him think! I don't even know if I'm really getting his character right at all because I've never actually had any experience with people like him. If theres something that he's said or done that wouldn't be realistic then I'd love it if someone would tell me- just for future references. And keep reviewing please! The next chapter is definitely going to be INTENSE- just a warning! Reviews are inspiration :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**I'm really happy so many people like this story. Thanks for all the reviews and support :) This chapter is going to be really intense. It was really hard for me to even write.**

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After her eventful day, coming home to Robbie was not something Kelsi was thrilled about even with his recent change of behavior. She decided to ride around for a while after Sharpay dropped her off at home.

Nothing much had changed- there were some new restaurants, hotels, and stores- but there was one place she was really hoping was still the same.

She pulled up in front of East High and for the first time in a while she felt truly at home. There were so many memories she had in that place. It was where she'd had the best days of her life.

On the sign that sat by the entrance, it said the first basketball game of the season was the following night. She wished she could go, but she didn't see how she could. Maybe since Robbie had been in such a good mood lately, she could convince him to go with her- or even better, she could convince him to let her go with Sharpay or one of her other friends. But in the back of her mind, she doubted that it would happen.

There was a part of her that wanted to go back and relive those years forever- but she knew she had to go on with her life. After all, she was getting married in a few months and that was a good thing, right?

**-3 Hours Later-**

Kelsi had finally got herself excited about going to eat with Robbie. She had convinced herself that they would have fun, which was a little easier because of his change in behavior.

She glanced at the clock. He should be home anytime and she was almost ready. As she was putting her makeup on, she wasn't as depressed as usual to see a bruise on her face because she was convinced that Robbie had truly changed and it would be the last one she ever got.

The door opened and for the first time in a long time, Kelsi wasn't afraid of what was coming- at that point she had no idea that she should be.

She walked out of the bathroom, expecting the best, but started to get a little nervous when she saw his angry expression,

"How was your day?" He asked, but she could still see a slightly menacing look in his eyes.

"Uhm. It was fine." She said, but on the inside she was panicking. He knew. She didn't know, but she knew that he knew.

Before she knew what was happening, she was slammed against the wall. "It was FINE?" He screamed. "You're cheating on me and all you have to say is that it was FINE?" His hands were around her shoulders, shaking her, causing her head to hit the wall, seeming to get harder each time.

"I'm not cheating on you!" She finally managed to choke out.

"Then what were you doing having lunch with another guy?" He pushed her to the floor. "Huh? Answer me!"

"I was there with Sharpay!" She said weakly. "Some people we went to high school with own the restaurant."

This only seemed to make him more angry. "So that's the guy? The one you wanted to go to that party to see so badly?" With every other word, she felt his foot connect with her ribs. "The one you love more than me?"

"No! Of course not! I love you and only you. I would never cheat on you!" As much as she wanted to convince herself of the same thing, she couldn't.

"Bullshit!" He yelled. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "If you really loved you, you'd prove it!"

She opened her mouth but no sound came out. She knew what he wanted- sex. He had been pressuring her about it ever since she'd agreed to marry him. At first, he'd been understanding, and she remembered the first time they ever had a conversation about.

**-Flashback-**

_About two months after Kelsi and Robbie got together, they were sitting on the couch in his apartment watching a movie._

"_I love you." Robbie looked over at her and said._

_She smiled. She loved when he just said things like that out of the blue. "I love you too."_

_He reached over and starting kissing her gently. Soon, they began full on making out. That was the farthest they had ever gone. His hands started to move over her body in ways she wasn't comfortable with._

"_No!" She pushed him away, but regretted it once she saw the hurt expression on his face. "Sorry. I... I'm just not ready."_

"_Okay baby." He said. "I'm sorry if I was making you uncomfortable. If you're not ready, I don't want to make you think I'm pressuring you into it"_

_Kelsi smiled. "Thanks." She said. "The last time I went out with a guy he wanted us to have sex on the first date. He had a condom in his wallet. I left while he was gone to the bathroom."_

_Robbie busted out laughing, and she heard him say something about "horny guys."_

_After he finally calmed down, he took her hand. "You're the only one I want. I don't care how long it takes- I'll always wait for you."_

_By then, he had already starting hitting her- only a few times, but she'd figured he would be mad. The fact that he had been so understanding and sweet told her that despite his temper, there was no one else she'd rather be with. She had no idea then how bad things would get."_

**-End Flashback-**

"I told you." She whispered. "I'm not ready."

"Right. You just don't love me." He spat. "I bet you went to your little boyfriend's house and fucked him."

"I-," Even though she knew it was no use, she tried defend herself.

"Shut up! God, Kelsi you're so stupid. You really didn't think I would find out you were cheating on me. You're such a whore!" He slapped her. "I don't know why I even put up with you."

She looked up at him. The beating hurt, but it was the words that really stuck. Bruises would fade but the things he said would be with her forever.

"You're not even going to try to deny it?" He punched her and she tasted blood in her mouth.

"Whatever." He said. "You're pathetic."

He walked towards the front door. "I'm not taking you anywhere tonight. I mean, god, I can hardly even stand looking at you right now. I'm going out." He turned around she was disgusted to see a smirk on his face."I'm sure I can find someone out there who can give me what I really want." The door slammed, leaving her speechless and more hurt than ever.

For the first time, she realized that things would never get better. He would never change.

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**I wanted to make the ending better, but I couldn't really think of a really good, powerful last sentence and that ruins the whole chapter for me! Ugh. But I guess its not my opinion that really matters; Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Sorry for not updating in a while. I just haven't been very inspired to write this chapter. The lack of reviews didn't help either! Come on, you can do so much better!**

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Robbie never came home that night. Kelsi was up until two o'clock, waiting, expecting him to come home drunk. He never did.

The next morning, though, she could tell he had been there. His clothes from the night before were strewn across the bedroom floor.

She walked out of the bedroom and was immediately hit with a disgusting odor. "Oh my god!" Her hand flew to cover her mouth and nose.

It was pretty obvious then just how drunk he had been- there was a pile of vomit laying on the floor a few feet away from the front door.

Just then, her phone rang. When she saw that it was Robbie, she thought for a split second about not answering it. She had never been more disgusted with anyone in her life- but she knew if she ignored his call it would only cause more problems later.

"Hello?"

"Baby," She couldn't help but roll her eyes. She could tell he was crying, or at least pretending to- but she didn't really care. "I...I'm so sorry about last night. But I didn't cheat on you, I swear. I went out and got wasted but...it didn't help. All I really want is you."

Kelsi didn't say anything. She couldn't. What he was saying didn't affect hr at all. She'd finally had enough and nothing he could say would make it any better. She'd finally reached the point where didn't think she even loved him anymore.

The sudden realization hit her like a bullet through the heart. The only reason she was still with him was because she was afraid to leave him, but more than that, she was just afraid to be alone.

"Baby?" He said after it had been a good thirty seconds. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah." She snapped herself back to reality. "Do you promise? Do you promise you didn't cheat on me?" Did she really care? No. But she felt like she should probably pretend that she did.

"I swear, baby." He said. "I would never, ever do that to you." She shook her head and rolled her eyes because she knew it wasn't true. She was pretty sure he had already cheated on her on more than one occasion.

"Okay." Kelsi said.

"Oh and I....I'll come home at lunch and clean up. I was just really, really wasted last night. I mean, this is the worst hangover I've ever had- but then, I probably deserve it." As convincing as his voice sounded, she knew better by then that she didn't believe a single word coming out of his mouth.

"Okay." She said again, not even pretending to care anymore.

"And tonight we can go out. Is that okay?" He asked.

She started to say yes, but then she remembered what she had seen the day before- there was a basketball game that night. Maybe, just maybe, she could convince him to go since he was in an apologetic mood.

"Um, do you think we could, um-," Her phone beeped, signaling that she had another call. She looked down in surprise- it was Gabriella.

"Hey, can I call you back in a few minutes? I'm getting another call."

"Sure." Normally, he would have been asking a million questions, but he was really trying to make her forgive him.

She switched over to the line with Gabriella. "Hello?"

"Hey, I heard you were back in town!" She smiled. Gabriella was just as perky as ever.

"Yeah." Kelsi said. "I got back Tuesday."

"Oh well," She took a deep breath in, like she was about to say something really important. "Me and Troy got engaged!"

"Wow, thats great!" Kelsi wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as she made herself sound, but that was just because she knew that they would eventually get married- everyone had known that for quite a while.

"Yeah, well tonight we're having a get together- you know, all of the old gang. And I guess as a celebration. We're going out to dinner and then to Wildcats game." She paused, having been talking so fast she had to stop to catch a breath. "Its the first game of the season tonight, by the way. And we were wondering if you and Robbie wanted to come."

If they had been talking face to face, Kelsi probably would have threw her arms around the girl because she was so grateful for what she'd just done- given her an excuse to go to the game. If there was one thing Robbie loved to do, it was to meet new people- for him, it was all about putting on the performance.

"Well, I'd love to and I'm pretty sure we don't have any other plans tonight, but I'm going to call Robbie real fast and make sure."

"Okay." Gabi said. "Call me back as soon as you find something out."

And suddenly, the happiness in Gabriella's voice made Kelsi depressed. They were both in the same situation- as in being engaged- and here was Gabriella, so thrilled and genuinely happy about her future, whereas Kelsi didn't even love the man she was marrying. She would have done anything to be in Gabriella's shoes at that moment, but she had learned not to hope for the impossible.

So as she hung up with Gabriella, the best she could hope for was that Robbie would be on his best behavior that night- and that Jason didn't try to make any contact with her whatsoever, or she might not even have to worry about the future- because if things kept going the way they were going, she might not even have one.

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**So yes, this chapter was pretty depressing, and sorry but it WILL get better- eventually. Also if the very last paragraph didn't make sense, it meant she was afraid he would eventually kill her if things kept going the way they were going(I wasn't quite sure that was clear). And really sorry for not updating sooner, but I've been pretty lazy. Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Yes, I know this happens like, every other chapter but I really would have updated like two weeks ago if I'd had access to a computer. I am pretty sure I'll be able to update faster from here on out, at least for a while(hopefully a long time!) but the reasons for all that are not important so, the moment you've been waiting for…**

* * *

It was after lunch, just a few minutes after Robbie left, that Kelsi head a knock at the door. She figured it would be Robbie, coming back to get something he forgot like he so often did.

To her surprise, it was Sharpay. She was suddenly thankful she'd put her makeup on earlier- it always made Robbie feel worse to see what he did- because the last thing she wanted was to let Sharpay see her like that.

"Hey…" She said, feeling awkward.

"We need to talk." Sharpay said. Kelsi could tell from the look on her face that she was serious.

"About what?" Kelsi asked as she lead her in. Her heart was pounding. She remembered what Ryleigh had said the other day- neither her or Robbie had thought of the thin walls since then.

"I'm pretty sure you know why." It was all over. Everything she had been trying to hide for over a year was going to be exposed and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Kelsi sat down on the couch and braced herself. She wished there was something she could do, something she could say, to convince Sharpay that what she'd heard wasn't what it sounded like.

"You know you can't deny this." Sharpay said. "I've heard a lot of bad things coming from over here in the past few days. I know what's going on. I only want to help you."

"You can't." Kelsi said, tears coming to her eyes.

"What do you mean? Of course I can. If it's about money, I can give you that. And I can probably find you somewhere to stay if you give me a little time." Sharpay said,

"No. You don't get it. I can't leave. He said if I ever did, he would hurt someone close to me." Saying it out loud made her feel ashamed and weak. She couldn't bring herself to look Sharpay in the eye.

"Oh my god." She said, sitting down on the couch beside Kelsi. "I don't know what to do. Have you ever thought about reporting him?"

"Well, I would, but even if they took it seriously he would probably get out on bail. He has a lot of money and so does his family."

"Then get an order of protection." Sharpay said.

"I can promise you that wouldn't stop him. It would only make him more mad."

"God, Kels." Sharpay said, sighing. "I'm going to think about it. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out something you could do. I can't stand seeing you live like this."

"Thanks…" Kelsi said, suddenly not really knowing what to say. "But uhm, anyway, did you hear Troy and Gabi are engaged?"

"Yeah. Are you coming tonight?" Sharpay asked.

The subject change was perfect. "Yeah. Robbie gets to meet everyone, so I'm not exactly thrilled about it anymore."

"Sounds like tons of fun." Sharpay said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Doesn't he, like, hate Ryan?"

"Yeah…and Jason." She said.

"Jason? How does he know Jason?"

"Oh, uh, he doesn't. But yesterday when we went to lunch, Robbie was there too with some people from his work. He saw the whole thing."

Sharpay's jaw dropped. "So wait, that's what you were fighting about last night?" Kelsi nodded.

"Oh my god, that means whatever happened to you was my fault." Sharpay said. "If I wouldn't have invited you, none of that would have happened."

"First of all, I was the one who made the plans. It wasn't your fault. If it wasn't that, he would have found something else to get mad about."

"Are you sure?" Sharpay looked near tears at that point.

"Yeah. Please don't blame it on yourself." She said, but she figured it wouldn't really help. If she was in Sharpay's situation, she would probably think the same thing.

Sharpay glanced at the clock on her phone. "Sorry to cut this short, but I have to go pick Ryleigh up from school."

"Mind if I come?" It was out of Kelsi's mouth before she had a chance to think. "She seemed really sweet and I don't really want to sit in the house all day. But if I would be intruding…"

"No! I'd love for you to come! I think Ryleigh liked you because she was asking about you this morning…but she also seems pretty scared of Robbie." Sharpay said.

"Yeah, that makes two of us," Kelsi immediately felt stupid after saying it.

"If one day you wake up and he's laying next to you with his throat slit, you can thank me." Sharpay said through clenched teeth. Even though didn't doubt she meant it, she found herself laughing. Sharpay had always been so overdramatic.

"Oh, I'm serious. If I didn't have to take care of Ryleigh, I'd take the chance. Even if someone did find out it was me, I'd use the psych defense. And believe me, I could do it. Sophomore year I got the lead in this play about a girl who was mentally ill. I can do crazy."

"I have no doubt." Kelsi said, and she really did believe it. Sharpay could do anything when it came to acting.

When they pulled up in front of Ryleigh's school, Kelsi was shocked to see that Ryleigh went to East Elementary, the same school she had gone to, instead of some expensive private school.

"Mommy!" The second Ryleigh saw Sharpay, she took off running across the school yard towards her.

When she noticed Kelsi, she scrunched up her face and squinted her eyes, a gesture she'd seen Sharpay do in a play, which, from then on, she had started doing when she was confused. "Who are you?"

"You don't remember me? I'm Kelsi. The one who lives next door."

She slapped her hand to her forehead and sighed, another thing she'd picked up from Sharpay. "Oh. Right. You look different with glasses." She smiled.

In her freshman year of college, Kelsi had replaced her glasses with contacts, but she occasionally had to use them if one of her eyes were swollen because it would hurt too much to put contacts in.

As she watched Ryleigh and Sharpay, she realized how much she'd like to have kids of her own. But with Robbie? There was no way she'd trust him with a child. She probably wouldn't even be able to go through a pregnancy without him doing something to harm the baby.

There were so many things she was missing out on because of Robbie- Friends, kids, working, even things as simple as spending time alone with her mom. But most of all, what she really wish could have was love.

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**This was like, my worst chapter ever. I sort of wish I could rewrite it and post it later, but I haven't update in so long I guess I should go ahead and get it out there. Hopefully I'm just being typical me, super-critical of everything I write, and it's not as bad as I think it is. Well, you can tell me that so REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**I am in no hurry whatsoever to post this because I got no reviews for the last chapter, which must mean no one is reading this, right? **

* * *

"Let's get this over with." Robbie said.

They were getting ready to leave to meet the gang at Playmakers, where they would be eating before the game. Neither one of them were exactly thrilled to be going.

As they walked out, Kelsi saw Sharpay walking out to her car. Sharpay waved, but Kelsi turned her head and pretended she didn't notice, suddenly aware of just how much she hated the feeling of Robbie's arm around her shoulders.

She couldn't help but be nervous about seeing Troy and Gabriella for the first time in over a year. And, of course, about all her friends meeting Robbie for the first time.

As they pulled into the parking lot of Playmakers, Kelsi heart started to beat faster as she remembered the last time she had been there. She looked over at Robbie, who had tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Of course, of all places, it had to be there.

Sharpay pulled in beside them and Robbie rolled his eyes.

They got out of the car and Sharpay shot Robbie the most hateful death stare Kelsi had ever seen, which meant something, since Sharpay was practically the queen of death stares. Kelsi almost smiled.

"Hi, Kelsi." She said, smiling. She shot Robbie another look before walking ahead of them into the building.

"What's with her?" Robbie whispered.

"Who knows." Kelsi said. "She's a little…overdramatic." There was no way she was going to tell him about the conversation they'd had earlier- there was no way that would make for a good rest of the night.

There was a private party room waiting for them when they walked in. All the people Kelsi used to be best friends with were sitting there, happy, and totally clueless to what kind of life she had.

Gabriella was the first one to spot her. "Kelsi!" She yelled, the same old typical enthusiasm stronger than ever. "Oh my god, it's been like, forever!" As Gabi threw her arms around her, Kelsi tried not to wince.

She faked a smile. "Yeah, it's been too long." She said. "And this is Robbie."

"Gabriella." She said, smiling.

Robbie faked a smile back as Gabriella showed them to their seats. Thankfully, Kelsi was on the complete opposite side of the table from Jason.

The evening went well. Robbie was a little shy at the beginning, but after a while he started to open up and talk more, and even started to crack some jokes. Kelsi felt a small sense of pride that her friends all seemed to like him.

But at the game, things started to go bad.

It all started when, somehow, Kelsi ended up sitting next to Jason. She didn't know how, because as they were walking in, she'd tried to stay as far away from him as possible.

Robbie, of course, noticed, and put his arm possessively around Kelsi's waist, something that would look like a cute gesture to anyone passing by. "I'm about to tell him to fuck off." He said.

"No, please don't. Why don't we just switch seats?" Although it was the last thing Kelsi wanted, she would do anything to avoid confrontation.

Jason looked at her with confused as she got up and sat on the other side of Robbie.

The rest of the game went fine until Kelsi started talking to Taylor, who was sitting beside her. Once Robbie realized she was distracted, he turned to Jason.

"Listen," He said, his voice low. "I want you to stay the fuck away from her."

"What?" Jason, of course, had no idea that Robbie had seen them the previous day, so he was completely clueless to what Robbie was saying.

"Don't play stupid. You know exactly what I mean." Robbie said, trying not to blow up. "I don't want you to fucking talk to Kelsi anymore. She's marrying me in a few months, so why would she want anything to do with you anyway?"

"Dude, chill." Jason said. "We're just friends…we have been for a few years. What's wrong with that?"

Robbie sighed and clenched his fists so he wouldn't give in to temptation and punch Jason. "Just stay the hell away from her!" He said angrily before turning back to Kelsi, who was still talking and completely oblivious to what had just went on.

Every few seconds, Kelsi would glance at Jason out of the corner of her eye. After she'd moved from beside him, he hadn't even looked at her. Every time she saw him, he looked lost in thought.

When the game was about three-fourths over, Robbie got up to use the bathroom.

Kelsi, of course, expected Jason to take this as his chance to talk to her. She waited until Robbie walked out of the gym before turning to look at Jason.

He didn't even look back, and her heart was filled with disappointment. Had she done something wrong? Why was he ignoring her?

She sighed and tried to concentrate on the game, which the Wildcats were winnings by a mile.

Once Robbie came back, she tried not to look quite as upset as she actually was, especially since it was because of Jason.

As the final shot was made, everyone stood up and cheered as the Wildcats started their season off with a winning game, Kelsi and Robbie included.

She tried to look happy as she walked out to the car, carefully watching Jason, waiting for him to approach her, and the very least, say bye.

He didn't. As she exchanged goodbyes with the rest of her friends, she watched Jason stand off to the side awkwardly.

As they rode home, she couldn't help but be thankful that the evening had gone without a single incident, but she couldn't bring herself to get Jason and his strange behavior off her mind.

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**Well yeah. I haven't updated in a long time. But that's okay, because no one's reading this, are they? Obviously not, because I still have no reviews for chapter 8. I was SERIOUSLY un-motivated, but I figured I'd better just put it up even though it's not my best.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**To be perfectly honest I don't think this chapter is going to be all that great. I've been having severe writers block lately and I don't know why, so I'm afraid that everything I try to write will be like, crap. Oh, and the lyrics are to Unbelievable by Kaci Brown.**

* * *

You love Robbie. You're marrying Robbie. You want Robbie.

That was what Kelsi told herself the next day as she stared at Jason's number in her phone.

Her mind was in a fight with itself.

Call him. No, don't call him. No, you have to. What if he's mad at you? But what if Robbie finds out, and what if he's mad? No way, Robbie's at work all day, how would he know? It's Robbie. He'll find a way.

She literally wanted to toss her phone out the window.

She finally came to a decision: She would call. She had to. She couldn't bring herself not to.

Her heart was beating faster than it ever had before as the phone rang and she was almost tempted to hang up.

"Hello?" His familiar voice said.

"Uhm, hey." _This is so stupid, _Kelsi thought.

"Kelsi?" Hearing him say her name made her heart skip a beat.

"Yeah." She said nervously.

"Hey! What's up?" _Okay, maybe he's not mad at me, _she thought.

"You're not like mad at me or anything are you? I mean, last night, things were kind of weird and I guess we didn't really get a chance to talk but…"

"Can I come over?"

"Why?" _YES, YES, YES! _She wanted to yell.

"I want to talk to you about something."

_This is so, so wrong. _"Okay."

"You live by Sharpay, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. Second floor."

"I'll be there in ten minutes." Something in the back of Kelsi's mind told her that this was _not _a good idea.

-10 Minutes Later-

For the past ten minutes, Kelsi had been pacing the living room, cursing herself for giving into temptation. The last thing she needed to be doing was letting a guy come over, especially one she had feelings for.

When she heard him knock on the door, her guilt only grew.

"Hi." She said nervously as she opened the door.

He just smiled, one she could tell wasn't real, as he walked past her into the house.

"First of all, I'm not mad at you." He said. "But I want to talk to you about something else that happened last night."

"Uhm, okay." Kelsi said. _What in the world could he be talking about? We had no contact whatsoever._

"The reason I didn't talk to you was because your dumbass boyfriend-,"

"Fiancée." Kelsi corrected.

"Whatever. He threatened me. He said I 'better not talk to you.'"

"Are you serious? Oh my god. I'm sorry. He gets jealous like, really easily."

"You don't have to apologize for him." Jason snapped, but regretted it once he saw the look in Kelsi's eyes.

"Sorry…that was uncalled for. I know it's not your fault." He said. "Do you still play the piano?"

"Yeah." Kelsi said, sending up a silent thank you that Jason hadn't tried to press the subject of Robbie.

"Will you play me something?" He asked.

"Um, I guess." She was reminded of the similar conversation just a few days before when things with Robbie were actually going okay.

She led him over to the piano and felt her face start to turn red as he sat down beside her. She flipped through her music, trying to find something to play for him, the whole time aware of the fact that their legs were touching.

The song she had hidden at the bottom of the pile suddenly came to mind. She hadn't played it for Robbie because it was about him, and she knew that it wouldn't make him happy to hear it.

As she started to play the first chords, she found herself shaking, and then she opened her mouth and began to sing:

_I wish you didn't love me  
I wish you'd make this easy  
It was love that caught me  
Now it's fear that keeps me with you  
I want to be by your side  
So I can close my eyes  
To the growing emptiness inside that  
kills me  
When I'm with you  
You try to break me  
Try to hate me  
So you can fall out of love  
You want to make me believe that  
I'm crazy  
That I'm nothing without you_

_It's unbelievable but I believed you  
Unforgiveable but I forgave you  
Insane what love can do  
That keeps me coming back to you  
You're irreplacable but I'll replace you  
Now I'm standing on my own  
Alone_

_I feel you in my shadow  
My heart feels cold and hollow  
No matter where I run I see  
Your eyes always follow me  
You try to hold me  
Try to own me  
Keeping something thats not yours  
You want to make me  
believe that I'm crazy  
Make me think that you're the cure_

_It's unbelievable but I believed you  
Unforgiveable but I forgave you  
Insane what love can do  
That keeps me coming back to you  
You're irreplacable but I'll replace you  
Now I'm standing on my own  
Alone_

_You're still haunting me  
In my sleep  
You're all I see  
But I can't go back  
Cause I know its wrong  
for us to go on  
And I'm growing strong  
To confront my fears_

_It's unbelievable but I believed you  
Unforgiveable but I forgave you  
Insane what love can do  
That keeps me coming back to you  
You're irreplacable but I'll replace you  
Now I'm standing on my own  
Alone_

As she was playing the final notes of the song, the door opened.

"What the hell is this?" Robbie yelled, seeing Kelsi and Jason on the piano bench.

"Chill man." Jason said. "Nothing's going on."

"Like hell!" Robbie yelled.

"Uh, Jason, you should probably go now." Kelsi whispered.

"Not until he calms the fuck down." Robbie said back.

"It's fine. Just go." She said desperately.

"Listen man, this is my house and you better get the fuck out." Robbie said.

Jason looked at Kelsi one last time before walking towards the door, and she could see that he wasn't thrilled to leave her alone with Robbie.

Robbie slammed door and locked it after Jason walked out, and Kelsi wanted desperately to rewind the past 20 minutes so she wouldn't have made such a stupid decision.

Surprisingly, instead of going for her, Robbie stormed over and grabbed the sheets of music sitting on the piano and began to rip it up.

"Robbie, what the hell?" Kelsi yelled, surprising herself. It had been a long time since she'd stood up for herself.

"Shut up!" She couldn't remember a time he had ever yelled that loud, and it literally made her feel like her ear drums were going to burst.

Within seconds, the whole room was covered in pieces of small, white paper. All Kelsi could do was watch in horror as years of work and time was destroyed before her eyes. She thought the physical abuse hurt but this...this was five times worse.

It was like, by destroying her music, he was ripping her apart as well, and as he started in on her, she found herself growing numb. The past 20 minutes played through her mind again and again, the way Jason said her name, and the way it felt when their legs touched.

He was all she really wanted and she would never be able to have him.

* * *

**Be honest with me, please. Does this suck as much as I think it does? I'll try to update faster next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**See, I told you I would update faster this time! **

* * *

"I shouldn't have left her there."

Jason paced the floor in his apartment. It had been about an hour since he had left Kelsi and he was already afraid he had made the wrong choice.

"Hold on, dude. What happened?" Zeke asked. Jason called him after he arrived home, and he'd come right away, sensing that his friend was obviously very worried about something.

Jason explained to him what had happened, starting from the threat from Robbie the night before. "I'm really worried about her. I don't know what to do."

"Well it doesn't seem like he's treating her right, obviously, but I really don't know what to tell you, man." Zeke said with a sigh. "Maybe you should try talking to her about it."

"You seriously think she would tell me anything? If something really is going on, I think she'd try her best to hide it." Jason said.

"You're probably right, but it wouldn't hurt to try." Zeke said, trying his best to be helpful. "Hey, you want me to ask Sharpay? She might know something."

"Yeah. Thanks man." Jason said.

"You still have feelings for her, don't you?" Zeke asked after a few seconds had passed.

"I…uh…I…is it really that obvious?" Jason, asked. In a way, he wasn't surprised. Zeke was his best friend and he knew him backwards and forwards.

"Yeah." Zeke said bluntly. "It sort of is."

"He doesn't deserve her." Jason said. "She deserves someone who will treat her right."

"You mean someone like you?"

"Something like that."

* * *

It was the first time he had ever made her black out.

She woke up about 15 minutes later, to find Robbie gone, not remembering much of what had happened to put her there.

As she struggled to sit up, her palm slipped on a slick piece of paper. Then she remembered.

Tears filled her eyes as she looked around the room, which looked like it had literally been snowed in.

There were pieces of music paper all over the ground and furniture, ranging from fist size to almost too small to see. How could this have happened? This was the absolute worst thing he could do to her, ever.

Her music was a part of her. No, it WAS her. It was the one thing she could always call her own, and now, like everything else in her life seemed to be, it was gone.

Hate. It was a strong word, but it was true. She hated Robbie. She hated him for hitting her, and for verbally and mentally abusing her. She hated him for making her feel stupid and making her a victim. She hated him for making her feel like she could do nothing without him, like she WAS nothing without him.

But what could she do? Leaving was not an option. She couldn't bear the thought of someone else getting hurt at her expense.

But she knew she couldn't stay either. If she did, she could be severely hurt, or worse, killed. She knew the abuse was only going to get worse, as it already did seem to every time.

She had no idea what to do.

The only thing she really did know is that she wanted Jason.

* * *

"What tipped you off?" Zeke had, as promised, called Sharpay.

"It's not me. It's Jason." He said, as he explained to her everything that Jason had told him.

"It's really bad." Sharpay said. "Like, a lot worse than you or Jason are probably thinking."

"How did you find out?" Zeke asked.

"Well, for starters, they live in the next room over, and the walls are pretty thin. The first time I ever heard him yell, I knew." She paused and took in a breath. "I remember listening and thinking, 'how could anyone treat another person like that?', and that was even before I knew it was them living there. Then, later that night, I ran into them as they were leaving, and they seemed fine. A few days passed, and then she called me and made plans. That was the day we were at Playmakers. Turned out that Robbie was there too, out with people from work, and he saw Kelsi with Jason…He flipped that night. I heard things I wish I could erase from my memory and…the next day, I went over there and talked to her and she told me like, everything."

Tears filled her eyes as she recounted all the pain her friend had gone through, She was sure Kelsi wouldn't have wanted her to tell anyone, but she didn't care at that point. Kelsi needed help and there was no way she could help her herself.

"But, oh my god, Zeke, today was the absolute worst. I almost went over there, but I was too scared. Does that make me a terrible friend? Because it sure makes me feel like one." Sharpay said.

"No, of course not. I don't doubt that he would try to hurt you to if you came over in the middle of anything." He said. "And you're doing the best thing a friend could possibly do: telling someone. I know she doesn't want any of us to know, and she'll probably feel like you're betraying her trust at first, but you're doing the right thing."

"Are you sure?" Sharpay asked with a sniff. "I just wish I could do more."

"Of course." He said. "I'll call you later. I think Jason is getting anxious."

"Okay. Bye."

Zeke hung up and turned to Jason. "It's bad, man." He related everything to Jason, watching his expression change from one of worry to one of anger. His fists were clenched by his side and he looked like he would explode any second.

"I'm going to kick his ass." Jason said, trying not to lose it. "I swear to god, I'm going to kick his fucking ass."

"No, you're not." Zeke said calmly. "That's only going to make things worse."

"Oh yeah, like things could really get any worse!" Jason yelled. "The girl I love is being fucking abused by some asshole and I can't even do anything about it!"

"We'll think of something, man, I promise." Zeke said, trying to calm Jason down.

"Well we better." Jason said, walking to the door. "Because if this goes on much longer, I'm going to kill him."

* * *

**Eh, I didn't really know how to end it, but I figured that got the point across :). So, Jason knows now? Good or bad? Please review, because I didn't think this chapter was all that good.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**Sorry for not being faster with updates. Time just goes by so fast that I really don't realize how long I go between updating. **

* * *

Robbie came home in an apologetic mood that night.

Kelsi was sitting on the couch, no make up on and wearing sweats, in the same position she had been in for the past few hours.

Her music was still scattered across the floor, destroyed. She couldn't bring herself to do anything with it. She knew it would hurt too much.

"Hey baby." He said quietly, kneeling in front of her. "I know there's no excuse for what I did, but," He paused, and Kelsi could tell he was trying to hold back tears. "I really am sorry. And I know you shouldn't forgive me. I know I don't deserve forgiveness, but…do you think you can?"

She sat there looking at her hands. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, although a part of her wanted to tell him that his act got better every time. She almost believed that he meant it.

"Baby." He whispered. "Please." He gently lifted her chin up, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Forgive me."

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She didn't know what to say. The smart thing, of course, was to say yes like she had always done in the past. What she really wanted to do, however, was yell "No!" and walk right out the door. But she knew she couldn't do that.

"I'll try." She said quietly, not even sure he could hear her.

"Okay." Much to her relief, the fact that she hadn't immediately done what he wanted didn't upset him. "That's all I'm asking you to do."

He had taken her hands in his at that point. "I know I hurt you more than ever today. I know how you feel about your music." Tears started to fall involuntarily down Kelsi's face. "And I know that I have a problem."

She felt like her jaw was literally going to touch the floor. He had never, no matter how bad it got, truly admitted that there was something wrong with him.

He sat down beside her on the couch and gently slipped an arm around her shoulders. "You know I love you, right?" He asked.

She nodded, still unable to speak. He _was _good. She suddenly wondered why he hadn't pursued an acting career.

"I'm going to try harder now." He said through his tears. "I'm going to try not to hurt you anymore. I promise."

He looked at her, expecting a response, but still getting none. "Do you believe me?" He asked quietly.

"No." She said, avoiding his gaze. "I can't." Although she was trying to remain calm, her voice cracked.

"I understand." He said. "But I'll prove it you baby, I swear I will."

"Okay." She said quietly, not quite sure what to think. Then her phone rang from the bedroom.

"Are you going to get that?" Robbie asked.

"No. I'll just call whoever it is back later. I'm sure it's not important." Kelsi said, when in reality she was just afraid it was Sharpay, or even worse, Jason.

"So," He said. "What do you want to do tonight?"

"Nothing." Kelsi said. "I'm tired. I just…don't really want to go anywhere or anything."

"Okay." He said.

"But if you want to go out, go ahead. I just want to relax. I…I'm just tired." She said. But the truth was, she would have done anything to get him out of the house.

"No, I just want to be with you." He said, and she tried not to sigh in disappointment. "How about I cook dinner, and we can watch a movie or something?"

"Okay." She said quietly. "I guess."

He got up and walked to the kitchen. Why was she putting up with this? Why couldn't she just be strong and get up walk right out the front door? Why did she have to give in every time he apologized? She had never felt more confused or helpless in her life.

But what if he was for real this time? What if he, somehow, learned to control his anger? Was it possible? She felt a small glimmer of false hope. If he _really _changed, maybe she could finally be happy. Maybe she could forget about Jason and learn to love Robbie like she used to.

But the more she thought about it, the less she thought it would actually happen.

Then her phone rang again. This time, she slowly and painfully lifted herself off the couch and walked to the bedroom.

Not to her surprise, it was Sharpay. "Hey." She said nervously.

"Jason and Zeke know." Kelsi's jaw dropped. That was the last thing she had been expecting to hear.

"Wha….no…_how_?" She asked, trying to keep her voice down so Robbie wouldn't hear her.

The was silence on Sharpay's end. "Did _you _tell them?" Kelsi demanded.

"Well, no. I mean, not exactly. Jason kind of figured it out on his own and he told Zeke, so Zeke told me and I mean…I couldn't just _not _tell him…so I did. I'm so sorry Kelsi." She said. "But I think this is for your own good."

"No it's not!" Kelsi practically yelled, immediately wanting to slap herself. She put her ear to the door, expecting to hear Robbie's footsteps. Thankfully, he hadn't learn anything over his banging around in the kitchen.

Sharpay sighed. "I figured you would say that, but I mean, do you really believe him? I mean, I'm sure Robbie has told you time and time again that it's the 'last time', but obviously, that's never been the case." She said. "Do you really think it's going to be different this time?"

"No." Kelsi said quietly. "I know it's not."

"See!" Sharpay said. "We're all going to help you. Things are going to change now."

Kelsi didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to run over to Sharpay's right then and hug her, but part of her didn't know if it really was a good idea.

"Are you there?" Sharpay asked after a few seconds had passed.

"Yeah." Kelsi said. "I'm just scared, Sharpay."

"And I get that. But you don't have to be. This will all work out just fine, Kelsi, I promise." She was almost tempted to believe Sharpay's convincing tone.

"Okay." She said, realizing Robbie would probably be wondering where she was if he saw that she was not in the living room. "Well I have to go but I'll talk to you later."

"Okay." Sharpay said. "We're getting you out of that house. You're going to be safe now."

And Kelsi tried her hardest to believe it.

* * *

**I had to write the end of this chapter in a major hurry because I'm about to leave! I hope it's still okay. Reviews are inspiration :).**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**I'm attempting at updating (a lot) earlier, but I'm not sure how long it'll actually take me to write this chapter, so it might actually take just as long.**

* * *

After Kelsi finished eating dinner with Robbie, all she really wanted to do was go to sleep. Of course, Robbie had other ideas.

"But it's your favorite movie!" Robbie pleaded, and when he held up the _Where The Heart Is _DVD with that longing look on his face, she reluctantly gave in.

She told herself to forget who he was as she curled up next to him on the couch, imagining that things had never gone bad for them. "I love you," he'd lean over and say every few minutes, and as much as she wanted to, she somehow kept in her "No, you don't."

As always, she couldn't help but get teary-eyed when Novalee told Forney she didn't love him. "You're crying?" Robbie asked her, rolling his eyes. "You're seen this like, a hundred times and you're _crying_?

Kelsi nodded. "Yes. And I've only seen it like, ten times. Well, maybe fifteen…"

"Only you." He said, smiling, putting his arm around her shoulders. "And that's just another reason why I love you so much."

She said nothing, but rolled her eyes. It almost disgusted her how nice he was being when she knew just how awful he could be.

Sometime in between then and the end of the movie, she fell asleep.

Three hours later she woke up to find the TV off and a blanket over her, Robbie nowhere to be found. Sitting up, she saw a note sitting in front of her on the coffee table.

_Babe,-_

_Got an emergency call from work. Didn't want to wake you. Will be back sometime before midnight._

_Love you, Robbie_

She looked at the clock sitting next to the TV. It was 10:56, meaning that anytime he would be home, and she hoped that he hadn't stopped by the bar on the way back.

Yawning, she realized she was still tired, so she got off the couch and decided to go to her own bed and go back to sleep. As she was turning off all the lights, she heard a soft knock at the door.

She peers through the curtain before opening it, and was surprised to see that it was Sharpay.

"What are you doing here, Sharpay?" She asked as she opened the door.

"I'm coming to kidnap you." She announced proudly, as if she had just won an award.

"Huh?" Kelsi said in surprise.

"Yeah. I saw Robbie leave and I decided that now as good a time as any. So go pack your stuff. I called Jason and he said he woud-,"

"Wait. I am not going _anywhere_. At least not tonight." Kelsi said. "And where's Ryleigh? You didn't leave her alone, did you?"

"Uh, no, of course not. She's staying the night at Ryan's. And why not? Jason's right around the corner. I told him I'd call him when you were ready." Kelsi honestly wanted to smack Sharpay over the head.

"I appreciate that you're trying to help me, Shar, I really do, but Robbie's going to be home any minute and-."

"Which is EXACTLY why you need to hurry up and get ready!" Sharpay interrupted.

"I am not going." Kelsi said firmly.

"Why not?" Sharpay whined, sounding like a five year old. "Don't you want to leave?"

"I do, Sharpay, I really do, but not now. Not tonight. Okay?" Kelsi watched behind Sharpay's head, her heart speeding up every time she saw a pair of headlights go anywhere near the condos.

"Then when? I mean, really. After what I heard today, I don't know how much longer it'll be before he…he…" She saw the genuine concern and fear in her friend's eyes. Sharpay truly thought that Robbie might kill her.

"Oh, Shar. That's not going to happen. I promise." Kelsi said, reaching out and hugging the blonde comfortingly. "And I'll tell you when I'm ready to leave, okay?"

"Soon?" She asked, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"Soon." Kelsi verified. "Now go, please, before he gets here."

And with a sad smile, Sharpay was gone.

She breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God for small miracles, thankful that Robbie hadn't come home during the confrontation.

She locked the door back as she walked in, turning around to see a familiar figure standing in the doorway of the bedroom. "Holy sh-," She started. "How did you….?"

"I was in the bathroom. I forgot to move the note." Robbie stepped menacingly closer to her, causing her to back up until her back was up against the wall.

"But your car….?"

"Locked myself out. Had to have a buddy bring me home. That's why your little friend didn't see me come home."

With every step he took, she felt like it was one step closer to her life ending.

"I can't believe you'd do this to me." He said, and somehow he managed to sound truly betrayed. "First you tell that little slut, and then that dumbass Jason too?"

"I…I didn't tell them. I swear." She was literally trembling at that point.

"Oh yeah, right. Then how exactly do they know, hmm?" He asked.

"They…they figured it out."

"Oh, really?" He was only a few steps away now.

"Yeah. Baby, I swear I would never tell anyone." She said, surprised she could even still get words out.

"But you'd leave me right?" Oh, and there was that.

"No…I just wanted her to leave so I-"

"Bullshit!" He screamed, knocking over a lamp.

"I don't like having to do this, Kelsi, I really don't." He said. Three steps away. "But you don't really give me much choice." Two now.

"So, yes that means I'm saying this is _all _your fault." One step.

"No it-" And then he was there.

* * *

Sharpay walked back into her condo, feeling defeated. All she had been trying to do was help.

She dialed Jason's number. "She won't do it."

"_What? Why?"_

"I don't know. She was just all like, 'I'll leave, but not tonight.' What's up with that?" Sharpay paced her living room floor. "I tried to convince her, but she just wouldn't do it."

"_Maybe I should call and-"_

"Oh shit, Jason. I just heard a crash!" Sharpay yelled. "What the hell? I didn't think he was home."

"_Are you sure, Shar? Maybe she just ran into something. I mean, you know how she is."_

Suddenly, a booming voice carried through the wall. "Oh, god! He is there! Get your ass over here right now, Jason!" She shrilled. "You have to save her!"

"_I'll be there in two minutes." _

* * *

**Well, TADA! After about 4 days of good, solid writers block, I got one little idea and the majority of the whole chapter came after that. Might I add, this is, I'm pretty sure, the fastest I've ever updated this. It hasn't even been a whole week! Reviews are much appreciated :).**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**Wow, just updated yesterday and I'm already getting new ideas! Hopefully this chapter will be up within 3 or 4 days of the last one…that would be a miracle! **

**

* * *

**

"We're leaving."

Kelsi looked up at him from her position on the floor. "What?"

"We are not fucking staying here when all your stupid little friends could bust in here any second and take you away from me." Robbie said from where he was standing over her. "We should've never came back here in the first place."

"But…but we can't just _leave_-," Kelsi started. She had a feeling that if they ever left, she would never see any of her friends again.

"Get up. We're leaving. Right now." Robbie said, reaching down and pulling her to her feet.

"Now?" Kelsi asked, in shock. "Don't we have to _pack _first?"

"We don't have time to pack." He said. "We have to _go_."

"Are you kidding? This is insane!" She said, a small part of her hoping that it was all a joke.

"Just get in the car." Robbie said.

"Where are we going?" She asked, trying to avoid leaving as long as she could.

"Didn't I say get in the damn car?" He yelled. "And I haven't really figured that out yet."

She just stood there, mouth wide open, not really knowing what to say. "But, your job and-"

"Get in the car!" He yelled so loud she swore the whole building shook. Reluctantly, she opened and the door and headed for his truck, thinking he had finally truly lost his mind.

In a matter of seconds he was beside her in the driver's seat, not even bothering to buckle his seat belt before speeding out of the parking lot.

* * *

"Jason, where the _hell _are you?" Sharpay screamed into the phone. "You said two minutes. It's been at least five!"

"I know, I'm sorry. There was a damn license check a mile away from your condo. I'm almost there." He said.

"Good!" Sharpay snapped before hanging up. She instantly felt bad, because she knew it wasn't his fault, but the fact that one of her best friends was obviously in big trouble was making her judgment a little skewed.

She watched from her window until she saw Jason's familiar car pull into the parking lot, then practically flew down the stairs to meet him.

"Oh my god, Jason. Thank god you're here. There was a lot of yelling earlier, but they're quiet now and I don't know what's going on and I'm so scared and-"

"Sharpay, I know you're worried, but would you please let me go up there and check it out?" Jason said, trying to pretend he was calm for Sharpay's sake.

"Yeah. Sorry." Sharpay moved out of the way and watched Jason run up the stairs.

"Kelsi!" He yelled, pounding on the door. "Open up!"

Sharpay bit her pinky nail and watched anxiously. No one came to the door.

"I don't hear anything!" Jason called down.

"Well you have you to do something!" Sharpay yelled back. What if she's unconscious or…or…"

"Don't say it." Jason cut her off. "I'm going to try to break down the door."

She started up the stairs as he kicked the door as hard as he could, two, three, four, five times before it finally burst open. "That," He said. "Is not nearly as easy as it looks when Elliot Stabler does it."

"Ooh he is so hott for an old guy!" Sharpay said, momentarily distracted. "Well are you going to go in or _not_?"

"Kelsi?" He called out. "Stay behind me." He instructed Sharpay. "Is anyone here?"

"I don't hear anything." Sharpay said.

Jason took a few steps into the apartment. "You stay here. I'll go check the other rooms."

He walked around, checking the kitchen, bedroom, bathrooms, and even the closet. "They're not here." He announced, walking back into the main area.

"WHAT?" Sharpay screamed. "How can they not be here?"

"I don't know, Sharpay, did you see them leave?" Jason asked.

"I wasn't really looking. I was too busy…worrying." Sharpay said. She walked outside and looked around the parking lot. "Oh shit, Jason! His truck's gone."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Jason deadpanned. "Where the _hell _are they?"

"Yeah, like I really know!" Sharpay snapped. "Sorry, Jason. I just…I'm really freaked out right now."

"Hospital." Jason suddenly said. "What if it was bad enough that he had to take her to the hospital?"

"Oh my god, Jason, you are a genius." Sharpay said. "Call the hospital, now!"

After making a few phone calls to all the local hospitals, Jason came up with nothing. "No one with her or Robbie's name or description has been in in the past few minutes." He said.

"Shit!" Sharpay yelled.

"We'll find her, Sharpay, I promise." He said, but instantly regretted it because he knew that there was a possibility that he wouldn't be able to keep the promise.

"But what if we don't?" Sharpay whispered.

* * *

Kelsi woke up to the sound of the rain hitting the car windshield. Glancing at the clock, she realized she'd been asleep for about three hours.

"Where are we?" She asked Robbie groggily.

"Almost to Texas." He said.

"Texas?" She screamed. "We're going to Texas?"

"We're getting as far away from fucking Albuquerque as we can." He said. "We'll probably go farther than Texas."

"What are we going to do about jobs and money and where the hell are we going to live?" Kelsi was panicking. If checking Robbie into the loony bin was an option, she'd do it in a heartbeat.

"We'll figure it out." He said. "And I know some people."

"And what about our wedding? What are we going to do, go down to the court house like a bunch of rednecks and getting married there?" She shrilled.

"Of course not." He said. "We'll still have a nice wedding."

"And who exactly will on the guest list since we've just left all our fucking friends?" She was full out yelling by that point. "And you know I really wanted my mom to be there!"

"I know that, baby, but none of that is what matters." He said calmly. "All that matters is that we have each other, and from now on, it's just going to be you and me."

Her heart dropped to her feet. She had no one now. He'd finally gone crazy enough to do what he always wanted to do: keep her all to himself.

_Well, _Kelsi thought_, I might as well be living in hell._

_

* * *

_

**Bahaha I bet no one was expecting that! I know everyone was like 'OMG Jason is going to save her', but come on, do you really think she could get away this early in the story? The dramas only just begun! And sorry for not updating sooner, but I've had writers block, plus exams started this week! Ew :( But on June 10****th****, my school gets out so there will probably be more updates after that!**

**Oh, and the Elliot Stabler reference is from Law and Order:SVU. I couldn't resist!  
**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Okay, so I'm trying to get this chapter plus another one up before I leave on Friday morning! Doubt that it happens, but it might IF I get really inspired :).**

* * *

"…and now they're gone God knows where and they're a good chance we'll never see her again." Jason finished. He and Sharpay had just finished telling of everything that had happened in the past few days.

The gang was all there, sitting in the living room of Chad and Taylor, who had married the previous year's, house.

"How could I have been so blind?" Ryan, who was possibly the most upset and shocked by the news, asked. "I should have seen this. I should have realized there was something going on when she started avoiding me at school, and the way she would always be jumpy and afraid….it was so obvious."

"Ryan it's not your fault." Sharpay said from her position on one of the couches, her hand tightly holding Zeke's, which all her friends noticed but didn't mention. They had been trying to hide the fact that there was anything going on with them, but to all their friends it had been almost painfully obvious.

"I know." He said, sighing. "But I feel like if I had payed more attention to her, I could have helped her and got her out before it was too late."

"We all fell for it, Ryan." Taylor said. "I thought they were happy. They seemed like the perfect couple." She was curled up next to Chad, who had his arm around her, and there were still a few stray tears going down her face.

"But it's different." Ryan said. "You've only seen her once. I saw her at least a few times a week, every week, and I was totally oblivious to anything out of the ordinary. I feel so stupid."

"Listen, guys, nothing is going to get done by sitting here feeling guilty." Troy said. "We need to come up with a plan."

"Troy is right." Gabriella piped up from beside him. "We have to _find _her."

"The problem is," Jason finally spoke. "That we don't know where the _hell _to even start."

* * *

"What do you think," Robbie began. "About Florida?"

"Florida? You want to go to _Florida?" _Kelsi asked. There was still a small part of her that thought this might all just be a bad dream and that she'd wake up, sitting back on the couch, just in time to watch the last few minutes of the movie.

_Had that really only been a few hours ago? _She wondered. It seemed like it had been days, maybe even weeks ago, and it seemed as if they'd been driving forever until they finally came to Hilton hotel in a town called Waco, Texas.

Now, they were both in bed, fully clothes since they hadn't packed anything, with the 32-inch flat screen TV on mute, flickering in front of them. Kelsi wished they could've just stayed in the first cheap hotel they came from. It wouldn't have made any difference to her.

"Yeah." Robbie said. "When I was kid, every summer from when I was 6 to 15, we would go there for a few weeks to visit my grandparents. I always said back then that I was going to move there one day."

Kid memories or not, Kelsi still thought he was going off his rocker. "I just want to go home." She whispered.

"Baby," Robbie said with a sigh. "I told you already. We _can't _go home. And I don't mean just not now. I mean not _ever_."

Kelsi swallowed a lump in her throat before she spoke. "Why?" She asked quietly, even though she already knew the answer.

"Damnit!" Robbie said loudly, slamming his fist down on the side table beside the bed. He sighed, trying to calm himself down. "Why? Because I need help, that's why."

Kelsi's lips parted, and she literally wanted to tell someone to pinch her. Maybe then she could wake up from this crazy world she suddenly found herself living in. "What?" She finally got out.

"I want to focus on us." He said. "I want to talk to someone about the way I am and I want to stop."

"And you couldn't have done that in Albuquerque?" She asked.

"No." He said. "Because all those people were starting to find out and it wouldn't be long before it would just spread and even if I could…change, everyone would know who I really was. Or who I used to be."

"Do you have any idea what kind of news might be spreading now?" Kelsi spat. "It won't be long before someone will report us missing. And not to mention that some people will probably think you freaking killed me and went on the run!"

"That's exactly why we can never go back!" He said. "And I know that people are going to start looking for us eventually, hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they already were. But no one's going to look for us in Florida."

"I don't think we'd be so hard to find. I mean, if it gets to the police they'll check our phone and credit card records and find us in a heartbeat." She'd seen enough crime shows to know it wasn't hard to track a person down.

"I know." He said. "And that's why we're going to start over. And I mean _really _start over. We can change our names and dye our hair and get new ID's! We can move to some nice little town close to the beach in Florida and make friends and have a new life! Doesn't that sound perfect?"

By that point, she was afraid. More afraid than she had ever been, no matter how mad he got. Afraid because he was talking so excitedly about, basically, going on the run like a bunch of criminals.

"Doesn't it?" He repeated after she didn't answer him.

"It sounds," She searched her mind for the right word. "Ridiculous. Crazy. Insane. All of the above. Robbie, we can't do this."

"Come on, Kels, it's a real chance. A real chance to forget our pasts and all the mistakes that we made and be who we want to be." His eyes were excited, in a way that literally did make him look crazy.

"Robbie," She began, taking a deep breath in. "Please don't get mad, but I really think you're like…losing it. This is the most insane idea I have ever heard in my life."

"Oh, lighten up." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Are you on drugs or something?" She finally busted out.

"Hell no." He said. "Come on! Just sleep on it. We can talk some more in the morning."

She looked over at the clock. It was already 3:30 am. Maybe he was just sleep-deprived.

"Okay. Goodnight." She reached over and flipped off the lamp, relieved at the darkness it finally brought to the room.

She waited until she was sure he was sleeping, his breathing even, before she started crying.

It could have been hours, laying there, clutching the pillow for dear life and soaking it with tears and makeup, before she finally fell asleep.

But she had come to a decision: Not that night, but the next, she'd wait until Robbie was asleep and then she'd leave. She'd take the keys and all their credit cards and drive without stopping until she reached Albuquerque.

And when she was there, she'd go back to her friends and her mom and push Robbie out of her mind.

Maybe he'd find someway back. Maybe he'd hitchhike. She knew he couldn't rent a car, the reason she'd decided to take the credit cards. But whatever he did, she wasn't going to have anything to do with it.

That was, if she could manage to get out without getting caught.

* * *

**Well, Robbie has officially gone(even more) bonkers. This chapter was really weird for me…like nothing I'd ever written before. I honestly don't know where any of it came from. I'm not really sure about Kelsi's plan to leave. Is it stupid and unrealistic? Remember, abusive relationships isn't my area of expertise so…I wouldn't really know. Review, even if it's to tell me that this chapter was crazy and totally out there…which part of me thinks it was. But you be the judge!**

**Oh and this is an ALL TIME record for me. I updated in two days! **


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Now, is it just me, or are people losing interest in this story? I mean, it's getting TONS of hits, but no reviews. Is it starting to suck? I mean, if I'm not doing a good job I want to know… **

* * *

"Kelsi! Wake up!" She woke up the next morning being shaken by Robbie.

"What?" She said groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"We have to go. I want to make it to Alabama before tonight." He said.

She looked at the clock, surprised to find that it was already almost 11:00.

She got up and tried to smooth out her clothes, wishing they could have at least made time to pack so she would have something else to wear.

"So," He said as they were checking out. "Do you still think my plan is crazy?"

She sighed, wondering if she should be honest with him or not. "Yes." She finally said. "I do."

He rolled his eyes. "You'll come around." He said.

"Doubt it." She muttered, looking away.

"Trust me." He said. "You will."

* * *

"Still no luck?" Sharpay asked, walking the kitchen.

"Nope." Gabriella said sadly. "I called her mom and she said she hadn't heard from either of them since they came over a few days ago. I even looked up his parents in the phone book and called them. Apparently, they haven't even met her yet."

"And yet," Taylor said incredulously. "They're still willing to fork over like, thousands of dollars to plan the wedding."

"Apparently." Sharpay said. "It's not like it sets them back any. They're loaded. They even have more money than my family."

"Wow." Gabriella said, as she looked up from flipping through the phonebook. "Do you think I should call the place where Robbie works? Maybe they've heard from him."

"Yeah." Taylor said. "Anything could help at this point."

"They haven't heard from him since he left work yesterday." Gabriella announced after a few minutes. "But his boss said that he'd call if he came in.

Suddenly, voices were heard coming from the front door, and Troy, Chad, Ryan, and Zeke walked in.

"Anything?" Sharpay demanded.

"No one's even seen them." Troy said. "And we checked every hotel within an hour away."

"Wait a second you guys!" Ryan said. "Has anyone actually tried to call _her_?"

They all looked at each other, expecting someone to say something. "You're joking, right?" Ryan asked, hitting himself on the forehead.

"I feel," Taylor said. "Stupid. For the first time….Ever."

Ryan just shook his head, pulling out his phone. "It doesn't matter." He snapped his phone shut. "Straight to voicemail."

"Of course." Sharpay said. "Like he'd really let her have her phone right now. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if it was laying on the side of the road somewhere."

"Way to be positive, Sharpay." Troy said angrily, rolling his eyes.

"Troy, you don't need to get mad at her." Gabriella said. "We're all worried here."

"I know, I know." He said. "You're right."

"I say we call the police." Zeke cut in. "They can put out a missing persons report."

"It hasn't been 24 hours." Taylor said. "And do you really think they will? I mean, she's an adult. She's not technically missing…only we don't know where she is."

"I don't know if it works this way in real life," Sharpay said. "But if it's like it is on TV then they might consider her to be a missing person, you know, considering the circumstances."

"Yeah." Ryan said. "It wouldn't hurt to try."

"Fine." Troy said. "I'll call."

* * *

"I feel like we're Bonnie and Clyde or something." Robbie said. "You know, since we're like on the run or whatever."

"Bonnie and Clyde? On the run? Are you _serious_?" Kelsi asked. "First of all, they were in it together. Second of all, they were criminals."

"Since when are we not in this together?" Robbie asked, momentarily looking away from the road.

"Since you _forced _me to leave _everything _I have and _everyone _I love." Kelsi yelled.

Robbie slammed on brakes, causing Kelsi's head to slam forwards, then backwards and hit the headrest behind her. "Everyone you love?" He yelled. "What about _me_?"

Kelsi swallowed hard. "_What _about you?"

He grabbed her arm, squeezing it tight. "So you're saying that you don't love me?" He asked. "Huh? Is that what you're saying?"

"N-no…that's not what I meant." Kelsi said quietly, feeling stupid. She couldn't believe what she'd said. "I do love you…more than anyone else."

"More than anyone? Please." Robbie said. "That's obviously a bunch of shit. I mean, if it was true you'd be happy with _me_. You wouldn't need anyone else."

Kelsi opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so Robbie continued talking. "You know you are so lucky that you even have me. I don't know why I put up with you or your shit."

She turned her head to look out the window as he started the car back up. She had learned to keep quiet at times like that.

"Nothing to say?" He asked after a few seconds. "I mean, you've really been showing off your damn mouth lately. So let's have it."

"Fine." She said. "If you hate having to put up with me so much, why haven't you dumped me? And why the _hell _did you ask me to marry you?"

"Because," He said simply. "You would be nothing without me."

* * *

"What did they say?" Gabriella jumped off the couch the second Troy walked in the house. After he tried calling the police and being put on hold for almost an hour, he'd decided to just drive to down to the police station himself.

"Sharpay was right." He said. "They already put out a missing persons report now, which wouldn't have normally happened…but after I told them everything, they decided it was a good idea. Also, they checked for credit card or phone activity and apparently they checked into a hotel last night. They called, but unfortunately they checked out this morning. The good thing was someone at the check-in desk remembered them because they checked in without bags, and that she was still with him so…at least we know she's still like…somewhat…okay." They all knew that what he really wanted to say was _alive_.

"Wait," Taylor said. "Where exactly was this hotel?"

"Oh, uh, Texas." Troy said.

"Texas?" Sharpay yelled. "Why the hell would they go there?"

"What's wrong Mommy?" Ryleigh suddenly appeared in the doorway, holding Ryan, who had gone to pick her from school's, hand.

"Nothing sweetie." Sharpay said.

"But you said a bad word." She said innocently. "You only do that when something is wrong."

"Ryleigh, why don't you go watch TV in the living room?" Sharpay suggested. "I think Jason is in there. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you."

"Is Kelsi here?" She asked, smiling. "I made her a picture today."

Sharpay felt tears start to come to her eyes. She knew that Ryleigh had become attached to Kelsi even though she had only met her twice. "No, sweetie." She said.

"Oh." Ryleigh said, her face falling. "Can we go give it to her when we get home?"

"She's, uhm, not home right now." Sharpay said.

"When will she be home?" She asked.

"I don't know, sweetie." Sharpay said, brushing the hair out of her face.

"Oh." Ryleigh said sadly. "Where is she?"

"She's on vacation, Ryleigh." Troy answered for Sharpay, who was trying her hardest not to break down. "Now will you please do what your mom said and go in the living room."

Ryleigh sighed. "Fine." She said, stomping out of the room.

"Will you get everyone in here?" Troy asked Taylor. "I want to tell them the news."

After everyone was in the kitchen, he filled them in on what the police said.

"Well guys." Chad said. "Looks like we're going on a roadtrip."

* * *

**I know people are probably tired of hearing me say how much my writing sucks…but I'm really, really, REALLY, unsure about this chapter. It just felt…weird. Well, the parts with the gang were fine…but the just Robbie and Kelsi parts were, for some reason, awkward to write… Or maybe it's just me. Review!**


	17. Chapter 17

****

Chapter 17

**Sorry for the lack of updates this week, but I've been UNBELIEVABLY busy. I was gone half the day on Tuesday and all day on Wednesday and Thursday, and today, which is Friday(might not have it all up tonight) I finally got home but it wasn't until after 4:00.…so basically, I really haven't had time. Thanks for the supportive reviews :).**

* * *

"So Ryleigh has a babysitter?" Taylor asked, as she went over the checklist they'd made for their trip.

"Wait, someone actually put 'Ryleigh' on the list?" Sharpay asked, rolling her eyes. "And yes. She's staying with our parents."

"Uh, sorry." Ryan said. "It was me."

"Focus people!" Taylor said loudly. "Phones. Does everyone has theirs?" She asked, looking around.

"Yep." Everyone answered but Ryan.

"Has anyone seen mine?" He asked sheepishly.

"Is this it?" Sharpay asked, holding up a red Samsung Rant. She clicked a button to light up the screen. "Oh my god, Ryan, you have got to be kidding me!"

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Your banner?" She asked. "It's been the same thing for almost TWO years and you still haven't changed it?"

Ryan just smiled, remembering.

_-Flashback-_

"_Let's try it without the music!" Ryan said to the dancers on stage. "Kelsi, you can take a break for now."_

_It had been three weeks since the first time Robbie had hit her, and it had happened one more time after that. Much to Robbie's dislike, the production was not done yet so she still had to rehearse with Ryan._

_She watched as Ryan led them, explaining the choreography for what seemed like the millionth time. She admired the fact that no matter how long it took them to get it, he never seemed to get the least bit impatient._

_She heard some jazz music playing from Ryan's phone, which was sitting on the top of the piano._

"_Uh, Ryan?" She called out. "Your phone is ringing!"_

"_Would you answer it please, and tell them that I'm busy and I'll call them back." He said._

_She picked up the phone, looking at the caller ID. It was Sharpay. "Hey, Shar. Ryan is busy."_

"_Kelsi?" Sharpay asked, surprised._

"_Yeah." She said. "How are you?"_

"_I'm good." Sharpay said. "Or at least as good as it gets when you have a whiny three year old to take care of all by yourself."_

"_So she's a handful?" Kelsi asked. _

"_Definitely. She's a mess." Sharpay said. "And she totally takes after me. She's a little drama queen already." Sharpay and Kelsi both laughed. _

"_Well it was nice talking to you." Kelsi said. "I miss you."_

"_Yeah, you too." Sharpay said. "You need to come back to Albuquerque soon and visit. Oh, and by the way, how's everything with you and the boyfriend?"_

"_Uhm, we're doing good." She swallowed hard. Just thinking about Robbie made her stomach turn. "I have to go, but uh, Ryan said he would call you back."_

"_Okay." She said. "Come home soon, Kels. And tell Ryan I love him." _

"_I will." Kelsi said. "Bye."_

_She looked back up at the stage, where Ryan was breaking down the choreography move by move, and she couldn't help but smile. Looking down at Ryan's phone, she noticed how boring it looked. His background was a picture of himself and Sharpay, but his banner just said "Ryan." _

_She smiled, then went through his phone to his settings where she could change it. 'Kels Loves U' she typed in, and wondered how long it would take him to actually notice it was there. Knowing Ryan, it would be a few days. He was always busy and when he did look at his phone, it was only to send a text message._

_Either way, he was her best friend, and now he would always have a part of her everywhere he went._

_-End Flashback-_

"Ryan? Hello? Earth to Ryan?" Sharpay snapped her fingers in front of Ryan's face.

"Huh?" He asked, looking up at Sharpay, who was holding out his phone for him to take. "What did you say?"

"Nevermind!" She said, annoyed. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Everyone said yes, piling in two separate cars, everyone hoping that they would be able to find Kelsi and save her before it was too late.

* * *

"I have to pee." Kelsi announced to Robbie as they came close to a sign advertising the restaurants, hotels, and gas stations on the next exit.

"Again?" Robbie asked, turning to face her and rolling his eyes. "You _like_, just went?"

"Robbie, that was like two hours ago!" She said, but was tempted to smile when he drove up on the exit anyway.

"Whatever." He said. "Just be fast."

She hopped out of the car, walking into the gas station while Robbie got out to get gas. When she got in the bathroom, she suddenly, for the first time since they'd left, realized that she had her phone with her. Just as they were leaving, she'd grabbed it and turned it off before Robbie realized she had it. The reason she'd forgotten about it was because she was wearing one of Robbie's oversized hoodies and the phone was sitting in the pocket, meaning she couldn't really feel it.

She turned it on, seeing that she had 11 voicemails and 20 text messages. She knew she didn't have time to read all of them, but as she scanned through them she saw that they were all from her friends and basically asking the same questions, the most recent being from Taylor.

"_Where r u? we r all worried! Txt back asap! xoxo Tay."_

Wow, she thought, they're really worried about me. Even though she knew she didn't have much time, she decided to text Taylor back.

"_Idk for sure. Somewhere in Mississippi."_

As she washed her hands, her phone vibrated again, signaling another message from Taylor.

"_We r ALL on our way. Where r u staying?"_

Whoa, she thought, how did she text back _that _fast?

"_Not sure yet. Will txt later when Robbie is asleep."_

And with that, she turned her phone back off and went to join Robbie back in the car. "What the hell were you doing in there?" Robbie asked. "You were in there for like ten minutes!"

She looked at the clock. It hadn't even been five since she left the car. "Where are we staying tonight?" She asked.

"I told you." He said. "We'll stop as soon as we get to Alabama, which should be in like, an hour and a half."

"Okay." She said, yawning. It was only 7:30, but she was already tired, despite the fact that she had slept until almost 11 that morning.

"About Florida," He said, causing Kelsi to groan. He looked at her angrily, causing her to quickly be quiet. "When we went, it was to this town called Kissimmee and it was really pretty and they had all this…"

She leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes, trying to tune out Robbie's voice.

As he droned on and on about Florida and how amazing it was, the only thing that was keeping her going was the thought that her friends were, at that very second, on the way to get her. Finally, after all this time, she was going to be rescued.

* * *

**Hmm…I wonder what's going to happen next….Seriously. I haven't decided yet. Haha. Just in case you notice: part of the flashback in this chapter is also part of a oneshot that I'm writing(probably going to be posted sometime tomorrow) so if you read it in two places, you'll know that it wasn't be I copied it from someone else/it was copied from me. Review please! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**I hate that I'm running out of ideas for this story because I really do not want it to end. I have become like, literally emotionally attached to it. I don't want to let it go :( Which just means there will most likely be quite a few more chapters. Hah.**

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Ryan asked, yawning, from where he was sitting in the back seat of Chad's car.

"I swear, Ryan, you are worse than Ryleigh." Sharpay said, turning to face him.

"Sorry, Shar. I'm just worried." He said. "I mean, she's my best friend."

"I know, Ryan." Sharpay said with a sigh. "We're _all _worried."

Since there were eight of them, they had to ride in separate cars. Sharpay, Ryan, Chad, and Taylor were all riding in Chad's car while Zeke, Jason, Troy, and Gabriella were riding in Troy's.

They had been riding for about 3 hours and all of them were starting to get cranky and irritable.

"Oh my god!" Taylor suddenly screamed. "She just texted me!"

"Kelsi?" Chad asked.

"Obviously. Who else?" Taylor said, rolling her eyes. "She's in Missippi."

"Mississippi?" Ryan asked. "We're not even out of New Mexico yet. We're going to have to drive all night and some of tomorrow to get there."

"And who knows if they'll even still be there tomorrow." Sharpay added. "I mean, we don't know if they're even stopping or just driving all night."

"Well," Taylor said. "She just said she would text me again when assface goes to sleep, so I'm assuming they'll stop somewhere."

"I'll call Troy and tell him the news." Chad said, pulling out his phone.

"Uh, no you won't." Taylor said. "I've told you a million times how nervous it makes me when you talk on the phone when you're driving." She snatched the phone from his hand and dialed Gabriella's number.

"Hey, Gab." She said. "Kelsi just texted me and…"

* * *

This was officially the longest car ride of her life. Kelsi sighed, staring out the window as they passed a sign that said "Welcome To Union Hill". They had finally arrived in Alabama about an hour ago, but unfortunately Robbie still wasn't ready to stop.

In reality, it just felt like the longest car ride of her life. She'd been on roadtrips before that lasted a lot longer, but this time she was just a lot more anxious. She was ready to be at the hotel, with Robbie sleeping, so she could text Taylor back. It was one of those times she really wished she could just turn the clock forward.

Riding in silence didn't really help. Robbie had, finally, after almost an hour, shut up about Florida, and since then there had been no conversation. She wished he would turn on the radio but was too afraid to ask, or even to try and start a conversation back up for fear of saying something stupid.

"Are you tired?" He finally asked after they had been driving in silence for almost 4 hours.

"I'm exhausted." Kelsi answered honestly. She hoped she would even be able to stay awake until he went to sleep at this rate.

"You shouldn't be. You slept all fucking day." He said. She didn't argue, even though she knew he slept just as late as she did, and that was only because they had been up until nearly four in the morning.

They pulled in at a hotel, an expensive looking one once again. This time, however, was different. He checked in with a fake name and paid with cash. She wondered where he got all of it, and just how long he had been hiding it from her, but it really didn't bother her as much as it should have. After all, in a day or two, she'd be away from him forever. Or at least she hoped she would.

* * *

"It's all my fault." Jason said. He had been keeping it in the past few days, and he finally felt like he couldn't anymore.

"What are you talking about?" Zeke asked.

"If I wouldn't have left her there that first day, none of this ever would have happened." He said. "I knew something wasn't right, but I didn't do anything about it."

"I don't think there was anything you could have done, man." Troy said. "Situations like this are complicated. I don't think you could have got her to leave no matter what you did."

"I… I know that but it's just…I feel like I should have done more to help her." Jason said.

"Don't worry about it. You can't change the past, man." Zeke said. "All that matters is that we're going to save her now."

* * *

When they got to their room, just like the night before, Robbie wanted to stay up and watch tv. After about 30 minutes, she pretended to be asleep, and when he finally looked over at her and saw that she was "sleeping", he turned off the tv and turned over on his other side.

She waited for what seemed like hours, but was really less than half an hour, before she was sure he was asleep, but even when she heard him start breathing evenly, she waited another ten minutes just to make sure.

She then quietly removed the sheet and blanket from her and eased out of bed, suddenly thankful they'd stayed in such a nice place because that meant the beds didn't squeak.

She tiptoed to the bathroom and made sure she shut the door all the way before turning on the light. She turned her phone on, thankful that it was on silent so it didn't make a noise, and saw that she had a few more texts since the last time she checked.

All of them were, once again, from the gang, this time saying how happy they were that she was okay, or as Zeke so nicely put it "_im glad your okay…or at least as okay as it gets with that THING". _She almost laughed because she could almost picture Zeke saying that very thing with a hilarious facial expression, but maybe it was just because she was so tired.

"_i'm in alabama now"_

She texted to Taylor, every touch of her keyboard seeming to be loud enough to wake the dead.

"_we r in texas now. driving all night."_

She felt her heart grow warm. It was hard to believe, still, that she had such good friends that they would drive all night just to save her.

As she was replying back to Taylor, she was interrupted by a text from Jason, causing her heartbeat to involuntarily speed up.

"_we r on our way to get u! don't know if we'll ever get there tho. troy is driving like 10 mph."_

That one actually made her start laughing, and she covered her mouth with her hand, trying to keep it silent.

"_good luck with that. hopefully c u tomorrow. going to sleep now. love you."_

She sent it without thinking, not realizing until too late what she had done. She had just said "love you" to Jason Cross. And although it was true, it wasn't something she was planning on letting him know any time soon.

_So much for sleep_, she thought, knowing she would lie awake for a while thinking about how stupid she had been. Hopefully, since she was so tired, it wouldn't keep her up _all _night. She turned her phone off, not wanting to even see a reply and hoped that Robbie hadn't woke up and realized she wasn't there.

She turned the light off and quietly opened the bathroom door, only to find herself face to face with Robbie himself. She was about to tell him she'd just got up to use the bathroom, but she knew it was no use when she saw the familiar anger in his eyes. She suddenly wished she'd been smart enough to delete her text messages.

"Hand it over." That was all he had to say, and she knew that her life was about to be over.

* * *

**I bet you weren't expecting THAT ending! Well to be honest, I wasn't either until I was almost done typing the chapter. Now if you REALLY think I'm going to let that idiot kill her, you're wrong. I hate anything that doesn't have a happy ending, so of course this will…eventually. Sorry for not updating in SO long, but I've just had the worst writers block, like, ever. I'll try to update faster! And sorry for the lack of Jelsi! I'll try to put more in. Oh, and REVIEW LIKE CRAZY! :) :) :)**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

**I have a feeling this chapter is going to take a LONG time for me to type up and post…mainly because I have no idea what's going to happen. All I know is that it's going to be bad, so I'll just give a warning now. Definitely some violence in this one!  
**

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* * *

**

"Holy shit!" Jason's yell made everyone in the car jump.

"What is it?" Troy asked, yawning.

"She loves me." He said simply.

"Who?" Gabriella asked.

"Kelsi." He said, smiling.

"Well, that's pretty obvious." Zeke told him. "I mean, have you seen the way she looks at you, man?"

"No. Dude." Jason said. "She just said that. Or well, typed that. Seriously!"

"Let me see that!" Zeke snatched the phone out of his hand. "Dude. You're not kidding."

"What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to say?" Jason was panicking. "And how the heck am I supposed to act around her NOW?"

"Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren't you?" Troy said. "It wasn't exactly a heartfelt confession. I mean, friends say that to friends all the time."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Troy." Jason said sarcastically. "But I guess you're right. I feel sort of stupid now for making a big deal of it."

"Don't doubt yourself." Gabriella said. Being a hopeless romantic, she was the type to make a big deal out of it. "It's pretty obvious she likes you. She always has. But if you don't believe it….well, you'll find out pretty soon."

* * *

Her mouth dropped to the floor. Her heart dropped to her feet. This could _not _be happening…especially after what she had just sent to Jason.

_I'm dreaming, _she thought, _I'm going to wake up and I'll have accidentally fallen asleep waiting for Robbie._

But it didn't happpen. He just stood there in front of her, expectant, angry, his hand stretched out waiting for her to slip her phone in it. She couldn't do it. She just stood there, waiting for something to happen. She knew he wouldn't be able to just stand there for long.

"Wha…?" She planned on asking him what he was talking about, but she couldn't bring herself to get the words out.

"Don't play stupid!" He yelled and shoved her, causing her to fall backwards, hitting her head on the doorknob of the bathroom door. "I know you had your fucking phone in there and you better give it me now!"

"It's dead." She mumbled, praying that he would believe it.

"Yeah, right." He grabbed her arm and yanked her back to her feet. "Prove it then."

Finally, after she just stood there, he reached in the pocket of the hoodie and pulled it out. "Robbie….no." She choked out. Her whole body was shaking and she had never been more afraid in her entire life.

"What? You have something to hide?" He asked as the phone flickered to life.

"N..no." She lied. Not like it actually mattered. In a matter of seconds, he would find out the truth anyway.

He was looking down at the screen, waiting for it turn all the way on, and on an impulse, she quickly slipped by him on one side and ran back into the hallway that lead to the bedoom, seconds later hearing something hit the floor hard. She knew it was her phone, and she wasn't surprised when she heard his heavy footsteps coming after her.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He yelled. "You know you're only pissing me off more!"

He caught up with her as she reached the end of the hall and grabbed the back of her leg, causing her to fall hard and hit a lamp. It crashed to the floor, hitting both of them on the way down.

"How could you be so stupid? I knew you had feeling for that idiot!" He grabbed her by the hair and tried to lift her off the floor. "But I didn't think you would be stupid enough to actually tell him! I mean, do you really think he would ever love a girl like you? Well, he wouldn't! No one would!"

Tears came to her eyes. She knew he was right. There was no way Jason would ever want to be with her. She wouldn't be surprised if he never talked to her again after that.

"You are the most disgusting thing I have ever seen." He went on. "I can't even look at you anymore." He flung her across the room, and she hit the end of the bed and sunk down on the floor and put her head in her hands, totally defeated.

"You think I'm done with you?" He demanded. "I haven't even fucking started yet! You really think your little friends are gonna find you now, well-"

And there it was a was, like a gift from God sent straight to her, a knock on the door.

* * *

"Should I say I love you too?" Jason asked a few minutes later. He had typed several responses to Kelsi's text message, and none of them sounded right. He ended up back-spacing them all and starting over.

"If you really want to, man." Troy said, just as Gabriella said "Of course you should."

"Why not?" He said. "What do I have to lose? I mean, it's not like I have her now, so it wouldn't really make a big difference if I lost her because, you know, I don't have her…" He stopped when he noticed everyone looking at him weird. "Ya'll get what I'm saying?"

Everyone said no. "Nevermind, then." Jason said. "All that matters is that I am doing. I am telling her I love her too…and whatever happens, well…it'll happen."

* * *

"Stay here." He commanded, and walked calmly to the door, trying to ease his hard breathing.

Although he shouldn't have been, he was surprised to see the two hotel security men standing on the other side of the door. Suddenly, he felt like the biggest idiot alive- this was a hotel, _of course_, someone would hear something and report it.

"Sorry to bother you, but we got a complaint about some loud noises coming from this room." One of them said in a southern accent.

"I'm sorry about that." Robbie said calmly, putting his acting skills to work. "I'll try to keep it down."

"I understand, but that said they heard yelling and crashes and what sounded like violence coming from in here and we're doing to have to search the place." The other one said.

Had she not been in so much pain, Kelsi would have stood up and done a victory dance. She couldn't believe this was actually happening.

"What happened here?" One of them asked when they saw the busted phone on the floor of the bathroom.

"Oh, I, uh, dropped it." Robbie said. His voice was unnaturally high.

Both of the security men looked at him with disbelief, but neither said anything as they kept on walking down the hallway, checking in the other rooms before ending up at the end of the hallway. "And the lamp?" The man asked.

"Well, I was uh, I was walking down the hall way in the dark and-" Robbie started, only to be interrupted by the security guard with the southern accent.

"Oh good lord, there's a person in here." He said, and he and the other man walked in. "Excuse me, miss?" He asked. "Are you okay?"

Kelsi nodded weakly. "I'm fine." She whispered.

"Did he do this to you?" The guard asked, even though the answer was pretty obvious.

Kelsi imagined she probably looked pretty terrible at that moment. Along with all her old cuts and bruises, she had been cut by the shards of glass from the lamp in several places and she could feel that her head was bleeding from hit the door. All she did was nod, and let the security guard help her to her feet.

"We're going to go get you cleaned up and call the police. You're probably going to give a statement about what your boyfriend did to you." She didn't even feel like correcting him and saying that Robbie was her fiancée. After all, after this, she was sure that he wouldn't be.

"Okay." She said weakly, letting them guide her out the room and into the hallway, but once she took in her surroundings, she realized one thing definitely was not okay.

Robbie was gone.

* * *

**Just so you know, none of this was planned out…but I realized that it wouldn't really make sense for security NOT to come, especially if they're staying in a nice hotel :). I feel bad for poor Jason…he's going to be so upset and confused when he gets no text back. Haha. And the whole Robbie being gone well….duh! If Robbie is going, where's the story? He'lllll bee bacckkk…..eventually. It might be a chapter or two from now…but be waiting! The next chapter should be fairly happy…maybe a flashback that isn't happy…but I'm not sure, I'll probably change my mind! REVIEW LIKE CRAZY! :) :) :)  
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	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

**So sorry that it took so long for me to update this! I bet all of you are happy to see Robbie gone, at least for the moment. Also, what you've been waiting forever for…this chapter is actually going to have some Jelsi in it! :)

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_It's over, it's over, it's over. _The phrase just repeated over and over again as she rode in to the police station in the back of the police car.

She couldn't believe it. After all this time, this was how it ended. In a fancy hotel, hundreds of nosey strangers watching from the windows of their own rooms as she walked outside so the police could take her to the station to question her about what happened.

Once she was there, she was led to an area with a lot of chairs, and was told to wait and someone would be there shortly. It had been about 10 minutes of her sitting there when another cop, a woman this time, came and asked for her.

She stood up nervously. "That's me." She said quietly, finding it weird to hear her own voice. She suddenly realized she hadn't spoken a word since talking to the security guards in her hotel room.

"I'm Detective Scott, but you can call me Elizabeth." She looked Kelsi over before speaking again. "You look exhausted. Do you want to sleep here or do you have friends near by you can stay with?"

"Uh, my friends are all on the way to come get me right now, but they don't know I'm here, like, at the police station. Do you mind if I use a phone so I can call someone?" Kelsi said, all in one breath.

"Sure." Detective Scott said, leading her down a hallway to a phone that looked like a pay-phone. "You don't have to put any money in it." She explained when Kelsi looked at the coin slot.

She dialed Ryan's number since his was the only one she knew by heart, and waited, heart hammering in her chest, for him to pick up.

"Kelsi?" He picked up, obviously surprised to see her number on his caller ID.

"Yeah." She couldn't help but smile when she heard her best friend's voice.

"Where are you?" He asked.

"At a police station." She said.

"A police station?!" He asked. "Wait, you didn't kill him, did you?"

"No! Of course not." Kelsi said through her laughter. "Actually, I don't exactly know where he is right now."

"Well, what happened?" He asked, and she heard voices in the background. "Hold on, I'm turning it on speaker phone."

"Kelsi?" He asked after a few seconds.

"Yeah." She said.

"Okay, good. We can all hear you." He said.

"All?" She asked, and then realized that it made sense that they would be riding together.

"Yeah. Me, Sharpay, Taylor, and Chad." He said. Her excitement dropped a little when he didn't say Jason.

"Hey guys!" She said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible.

"Why didn't you ever text me back?" Taylor asked. "Nevermind. Just tell us what happened."

"Okay, well, I had just come out of the bathroom and Robbie was standing like, right there, and uh, he took my phone, and then he was reading everyone's messages and then…well, you don't need to know the details." She said. "But someone heard us and reported it to the hotel security, so they came and knocked on the door, and while they were talking to me they were stupid enough to let Robbie get away, and then-"

"Wait, so he could be anywhere right now?" Chad asked.

"Yeah." Kelsi said. "He took the truck, so he's probably miles and miles away by now."

"Is that why you're at the police station?" Ryan asked.

"Well, not really, but I guess that's part of it too. I'm just here to give a statement about what happened. They're actually running Robbie's picture and his license plate on TV sometime soon, maybe right now." She said. "But uhm, how far away from here are you guys?"

"We're in Mississippi. What part of Alabama are you in?" Sharpay came on the phone. "And are you like, okay?"

"As good as can be expected after all that's happened…." She said. "I'm in Union Hill. It's pretty much the first actual town you get to when you reach Alabama."

"I think we'll probably be there by morning." Ryan said. "If I'm reading this map right like, at all."

"Which he probably isn't." Taylor snatched the map from him. "We'll be there in about six hours….morning. Sorry Ryan."

Kelsi smiled, loving the way that even when everything was going on, her friends still acted exactly like themselves. "Okay, well then I guess I'll try and get some sleep here, and I'm at the Union Hill Police Station. It's pretty easy to find. It's actually about 5 miles into the town on the main road."

Suddenly there a loud honking noise, then she heard Ryan yell. "Dude, what the hell are you doing?!"

"Sorry guys. I guess I'm tired. I think I started to fall asleep." Chad said.

"Okay, pull over. I'm driving." Taylor said.

"Oh, hell no." Chad said. "I'd do a better job driving in my sleep."

"That's a lot coming from the person who could have got us killed!" Taylor yelled. "Now, you better pull-"

"I'm still here." Kelsi said.

"Sorry." Taylor apologized sweetly, before continuing to yell at Chad.

"When you get done with the police, you can stay with me if you want." Sharpay said. Kelsi could tell she'd taken the phone hostage, considering she could barely hear Chad and Taylor's arguing anymore.

"No, I can't. That's the first place Robbie will look for me. It actually wouldn't be a good idea for you to go back home either until they catch him." She said. "Oh god. Oh my god. My mom. Did anyone call her?' She couldn't believe she had just now thought about it.

"Shit." Sharpay said. "Not recently. Not since the day after you left."

"I have to call her like now." Kelsi said. "I'll see you guys in six hours, okay? Bye." She hung up quickly as possible, then dialed her mom's number.

She picked up on the first ring. "Honey?" She asked, panic in her voice.

"Yeah, mom." She said, instantly comforted by her mom's voice.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" She asked. "That was a stupid question. Of course you're not. You're friends called, they told me what happened, they told me about that fucking asshole. Oh god, I can't believe I was so blind. Baby, I thought I knew you better than anything and now I feel like I don't even-"

"I'm fine, Mom." Kelsi said, recognizing the always common Nielson trait she and her mom both carried: talking when they were nervous. "It's a long story, but I'm at a police station in Alabama, no one knows where Robbie is, and all my friends going to be here in six hours. I'll call you as soon as I'm on the road, but right now I really need to give my statement and go to sleep."

"Sleep! Of course." She said. "I'm so happy that you're alright. I was so worried, you have no idea. I love you."

"I love you too." She said. "And I can't wait to see you, but uhm, do you think you could stay somewhere else, at least for a few days?"

"Why?" She asked, and she could almost picture her with her eyebrow kinked up involuntarily, the way it always did when she was confused.

"Because, Robbie's fled, and I don't want him to hurt you. He knows where you live, remember?" Kelsi said, yawning. "You should go stay with Aunt Tammy."

"I agree. I'll go right away, I promise." She said. "I'll let you sleep now sweetie, but call me as soon as you possibly can."

"I will." Kelsi said. "I love you, bye."

She hung up the phone, looking around for Detective Scott. Ironically, she walked in the room at exactly that moment. "Are you done with the phone?" She asked.

"Yeah." Kelsi said, yawning again.

"How about since you're so tired, you just sleep for now and I'll get your statement in the morning." She suggested.

"Yeah. That would be great." Kelsi said with a weak smile. "I'm really tired."

"Okay, well, these beds may not be the most comfortable thing in the world, but if you're nearly as tired as you look I'm sure you'll sleep fine." She said as she led Kelsi down another hallway, then up a set of stair, then down another hallway. At the end of that hallway, there was a room with six sets of bunk beds, all up against the wall, which were normally used for the detectives when they were working a case that lasted over 24 hours.

"Sorry we don't have anything for you to wear." She said. "Just come back down to the main room whenever you wake up, okay?"

"Okay." Kelsi said, wanting to collapse on the uncomfortable looking bed.

Detective Scott left the room, leaving Kelsi completely alone for the first time in what felt like weeks. She layed down in the first bed she got to, glad to find that they were a lot more comfortable than they looked- Not that it would have mattered, of course, considering she was asleep in no more than two minutes.

For the first time since she'd met Robbie, her life seemed to actually be close to what she called normal. Her friends were coming and Robbie was gone.

For now.

* * *

**Okay, so I lied. There was no Jelsi. Not even an ounce. Actually there was no Jason. Period. Whoops. Oh well, planning ahead isn't my strong point. Jelsi, next chapter, I promise! Also, there will be at least one more Robbie free chapter! Review like crazy :) :) :)**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

**Wow, I can't believe that this story has come to 21 chapters…it's totally unreal. When I got the idea for it, I knew it was something special but I never expected it to go this far! :) I wish it could be a never ending story. Haha.**

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* * *

**

"But she's my best friend!" A familiar voice woke Kelsi up the next morning. She sat up with a smile, recognizing the voice as Ryan's.

She immediately got out of bed so she could make sure Ryan didn't get himself and the rest of her friends kicked out of the police station. She knew how he could be,

especially when he was worried; he wouldn't quit annoying the cops until they let him in or arrested him.

"Hey guys!" She said as she got to the bottom of the stairs and saw all her friends standing in a big group. From the looks they gave her, she was sure she looked about as bad as she felt. Sharpay was the first to speak up.

"You're safe!" She yelled, and ran over to give Kelsi a hug. "Oh my god, you have like, no idea how worried we've all been!"

Ryan was the next to approach her. "Hey." He said with a small smile, hugging her a lot more lightly than Sharpay. She could tell he was feeling a little uneasy, and she wasn't really sure why. "Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

"I think I'm still kind of in shock, actually." She said, and it was true: the whole situation was only just starting to sink it.

"That's expected." Ryan said. "But at least it seems like you're feeling a lot better than you look."

Kelsi narrowed her eyes at him. "Thanks a lot." She said dryly.

"I try." Ryan said, smiling.

She looked around, trying to find Jason, and finally spotted him, hanging at the very back of the group, looking a little like he was trying to hide. Everyone but him realized she was looking at him, but he didn't notice considering he had his head pointed straight at the floor. Zeke nudged him with his elbow and he looked up.

He looked nervous, which made Kelsi also feel nervous, but she still found herself giving him a small, weak smile. His face lit up like Christmas and he walked forward, still nervous, his hands in his pockets.

"Hey." He said, and she laughed when his voice cracked.

"Hey." She answered back, suddenly feeling like the shy person she was in high school.

"Uhm." He said. He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing came out, and it was making him want to hit himself for acting so stupid.

"I'm sorry about the text message." Kelsi spit out, hoping that it would get him to start talking.

"No-it's not- it's just-… I mean-," Detective Scott decided to chose the worse moment possible to walk back into the room, interrupting Jason.

"Are you ready to make your statement now?" She asked, clearly not realizing she had just ruined the moment.

"Sure." She said, faking a smile, even though she was more nervous than she had ever been; it was the first time she _really _had to talk about what Robbie had done to her and she was afraid she would break down and cry, and she didn't want to end up doing that.

She follwed Detective Scott to a small room with a table and two chairs that sat opposite each other; it made her feel like a criminal when she realized it was just like the interrogation rooms on TV.

She sat down in the uncomfortable chair and took a deep breath as Detective Scott sat down across from her. For a minute, neither of them said anything.

"So uhm," Kelsi said. "Where should I start?"

"From the beginning." Detective Scott said.

"The beginning of what?" She asked. "Tonight? Or our uhm, relationship."

"Well, for now, just tonight, but at a later time- when find Robbie and bring him in- you might have to describe some of the abuse before tonight, and you might have to testify against him as well." She said.

Kelsi swallowed hard. Testify? She hadn't even thought of that. There was no way she could do it, especially not with Robbie in the same room. For the first time, she considered the possibility that it might be better if they just never found Robbie, well, just as long as he never found her.

"Testify?" She choked out. "I…I don't think I can."

"I know that it's scary. I know you don't want to have to face him." Detective Scott said. "But isn't it worth it if you can put him in jail?"

"I…I don't know." Kelsi said.

"But you know, if he ever finds you again, he could try to hurt you again." She said.

"And he probably would." Kelsi said back. "But is there any chance I wouldn't have to testify?"

"Well, yes." She said. "If they could find enough evidence to put him away, or if he willingly admits what he did and doesn't want to go to trial."

"He won't do that." Kelsi said quickly. "He'll want to fight."

"Then you'll have to testify if you want him to be put away." Detective Scott said gently.

Kelsi sighed. She knew if she thought about it realistically, the best thing to do would be to testify against Robbie. She knew it would probably be the hardest thing she'd ever do, but if it came to it…

"Should I, uhm, start now?" Kelsi asked nervously.

"Go ahead." Detective Scott said.

"Okay, uhm, well last night, after we got to the hotel, I waited until Robbie was asleep-," Kelsi started.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but why were you at the hotel?" Detective Scott asked.

"Well, a few days, or nights, ago, Robbie decided that we were leaving and so we've just been driving and then checking into hotels at night for the past three days." Kelsi said.

"Did he make you leave against your will, or did you voluntarily go with him?" She asked.

"Uhm. I didn't want to go, and I told him that, but he didn't really _make _me go…" Kelsi said. "At least I don't think he did."

"Did he do anything to physically harm you after you told him that you didn't want to leave?"

"Uhm. I'm sorry, but I don't really remember." Kelsi said. "That whole night just sort of…blends together."

"Okay…well, if you remember any specifics, then please let me know." Detective Scott said. "Because if he took you and held you against your will, then he can be charged with kidnapping as well as already being charged with battery."

That shocked Kelsi- it wasn't something she'd ever thought of before, but it made sense. She'd always thought that it had to be a minor for it to be considered kidnapping, but what else would it be called?

"Okay, I will." She said.

"Start with when you left, at least as much as you can remember." She said.

"Okay, well, we left 3 nights ago, and we drove for a few hours before we checked into a hotel in Texas, and then the next day we drove again for pretty much the whole day, and then we stopped at another hotel last night, and uhm, wait, sorry, yesterday we stopped at a bathroom and I went in and turned my phone on and told my friends where I was and then-." Kelsi sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm really bad at this. Can I just write it down or something?"

"If that would be easier." She said.

"I think it would." Kelsi said. "I'm really bad at telling stories."

Detective Scott walked out of the room, returning a few seconds later with a pad of paper and a pen. "Take as much time as you need." She said.

Kelsi tried her best to write down everything that had happened in the past three days as detailed as she could, and ended up filling four pages. When she was done, she felt like her hand was going to literally fall off.

"Thank you." Detective Scott said when she handed over the notepad. "You can leave now, and I'll contact you if I need any addition information or if you need to testify."

"Uhm, I don't exactly have a phone right now, so should I give you some of my friend's numbers or my mom's…?"

"Do you plan on getting another phone?" Detective Scott asked.

"As soon as I possibly can. Hopefully even today, and tomorrow at the latest." Kelsi said.

"Okay, well, whenever you get it, call the police station and ask for me so I can get the number." She said.

"I will." Kelsi said. "Can I go now?"

"Yes." Detective Scott said. "And don't worry…they'll find him soon." She said as an afterthought as Kelsi rose and started to the door.

She just gave her a small smile in return, and walked back out into the lobby area where all her friends were. The first person she saw when she walked out there was, of course, Jason, looking even more nervous than before.

"Uhm, Jason." She said quietly, causing him, as well as the rest of them minus Ryan who was sleeping, to look up. No one said anything to her; they all knew what she had to talk to Jason about.

He stood up and followed her to the other side of the room so they could talk more privately. "I'm really sorry about earlier." He said. "I just, I was confused by your text message- okay, I still am-, but I was being really immature by not just talking to you about it, especially as a time like this and-"

"It's okay." She said. "You don't need to apologize. But I meant exactly what I said in that text message." She couldn't believe she'd actually admitted it, but her instincts had told her to just go for it.

"I was kind of hoping you would say that." Jason said with a smile. "Because, I uhm, feel the same way. I mean, I always have."

She smiled. _Is this a dream? _She wondered. It had to be- there was no way that what she had been waiting for for so long was actually happening. But then, how could it not be real? If it was a dream, it wouldn't be in a police station and she wouldn't be covered with bruises and in pain.

"Would y'all kiss already?" Chad's voice yelled out from the other side of the room, causing Jason to look down and Kelsi to blush.

But when she thought about it, it didn't really matter where she was or what she looked like. All that mattered was that the one person she really loved, loved her back, and Robbie was gone.

And that made the moment perfect.

* * *

**No, it's not done. I know that sort of sounded like an ending, but it's not. Haha. There will be tons more drama and craziness before Jason and Kelsi can live happily ever after. And sorry times a MILLION for not updating sooner- I've had the worst writers block the earth has ever seen on this dang chapter. And I'm not sure if I like it or not, but at least it's longer(a lot of people were saying it should be). Oh well, I am now definitely rambling. It's about one in the morning and I'm starting to get all out of it and weird so I'm shutting up and posting….NOW. Okay I lied, not done. THERE WAS SOME JELSI...as I promised. Finally. :) REVIEW LIKE CRAZY :) :) :)!**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

**So sorry for not updating in forever!!...But I'm sorry to say that updates will be pretty infrequent for a while until some crazy, ridiculous mess gets straightened out(if it even does!)...but I'll try to update whenever it's actually possible for me to. I hate it, but I don't really have a choice :( Sorry.**

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Robbie sat in his "borrowed" car, a baseball cap pulled down low over his face. As soon as he'd crossed the Georgia state border, he'd ditched his own car behind an abandoned shopping center. He then went to the car dealership across the street, said he wanted to test drive a car, given them a fake name, and then drove off with no intentions of bringing the car back.

He sat in the parking lot of a familiar gas station that had been there since, or at least what his parents had said, his dad was in his teens. They had always stopped there on the way to Florida, and on their way back home to North Carolina, which was where he was raised and had lived until he was 16.

The same family had owned the gas station as long as it had been opened- it was passed down through generations, and the same old man who'd worked there every time he'd come in with his family, who was now in his early sixties, was still working there that day. He waited until the last car had pulled out of the parking lot before getting out of his own car and walking in- he knew for a fact that the man would have no idea he was in any sort of trouble- "If something happens that I really need to know about, one of the townfolks will tell me about it. I haven't watched the news or read an article in the paper in over 20 years."- that was what he'd always said when Robbie's father bought a newspaper.

Walking into the store, he immediately noticed the old man, Hank, squint his eyes, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar. "If it isn't little Robert Jacobs." He said. "Last time I saw you, you'd barely hit puberty."

Robbie smiled. "I'm surprised you even remember me." He said.

"Always." Hank said. "Hershey bar, crunchy Cheetos, Dr. Pepper- you got that every time you came in here."

"I just want a coffee today." Robbie said.

"How do you take it?" Hank asked. "Like your father, black? Or like your mother, two creams and three sugars?"

"One cream, two sugars." He said, but he was thinking that for an old man, he sure had a sharp memory.

"How's your life been?" Hank asked as he prepared the coffee. "Girlfriend? Wife? Kids?"

"I'm engaged." Robbie said, then realized his mistake. "Or, I was."

Hank raised his eyebrows. "She cheated? You cheated? Or something you just don't want to talk about?"

"The last one." Robbie said. "It's complicated."

"Even though I'm an old guy now, I remember what it was like to be in love. I'll be willing to listen." Hank said.

"Thanks for the offer." Robbie said, taking his coffee off the counter. "But I really have to go."

"Stop by again sometime." Hank said. "Don't be a stranger."

It was the same thing he'd always told them as they were leaving when he was growing up. When he a was a young kid, something about "don't be a stranger" seemed hilarious to him. He went through a phase where he said it everyone. "If I ever get the chance to come back, I will." He said honestly, but he knew it was likely that sooner or later he'd go to jail; he was just putting it off as long as possible.

He walked out of the gas station, got in his stolen car, and drove away, wishing things were as simple as they had been when he was a kid. But now, he was a criminal, a man on the run, and there was no one to blame but himself.

* * *

They hadn't gone back to Albuquerque right away- instead, all nine of them had ended up checking into a hotel. Most of them had barely slept in the past 48 hours, except for the lucky ones that never got the chance to have driving duty. They ended up getting two two bedroom rooms, and everyone basically paired off into couples- Troy and Gabriella, Chad and Taylor, Sharpay and Zeke, Kelsi and Jason- the only one left was Ryan, who was stuck sleeping on the pullout couch.

Kelsi and Jason were, at the moment, sitting on the bed together with the comforter still pulled up, in silence. Neither one of them really knew what to say; they didn't even know why they were sharing a room, especially considering it only had one bed-basically, their friends had pretty much stuck them together. Things had been more awkward than ever since they'd made their confessions to each other in the police station. Neither one of them really knew what to do next.

"So uhm," Jason finally said. "Do you want to talk about, uhm, anything?"

Kelsi turned to him. "Do you really want to know?" She asked. She didn't mean to sound so defensive about it, but she didn't really know what to say either.

"Only if you want to tell me." Jason said softly, put a hand on her arm.

She jumped. "Sorry." She said. "I'm just not used to..."

"I understand." Jason said. "No touching. It's too early. Got it."

Kelsi smiled. "No, it's fine. I'm going to have to get over it eventually, I might as well start now."

"No one is expecting you to act this put together, Kels." He said. "You've been through a lot. It's not healthy to hold it all inside."

"I know." She said. "I'm just used to having to."

Jason clenched his fist, the one that she couldn't see. Her words had made him want to hurt Robbie even more. "Well, why don't you start by talking to me? That might help." He said, trying to hold himself together for her sake.

"I'll try." She said, looking up at him. "I just don't really know where to start."

"The beginning is always a good place." Jason said.

"You know, that's the same thing Detective Scott said." Kelsi said. "But I don't understand. The beginning of what?"

"The beginning," Jason said. "Of your relationship with Robbie."

Kelsi bit her lip. "Okay." She finally said. "This is going to be a long story."

"Take all the time you need." He said. "And if you feel like you have to stop, then just stop. I'm not going to make you tell me anything you don't want to."

She nodded. "Well, when we met, we literally ran into each other on campus in my senior year. We talked and then he asked me to go out with him the next night, so I said yes even though it was the first time we met." She took a deep breath. "The date went really well and after that, we went out a few more times. After a while, we were basically together all the time. For the first like, month, things were amazing. We were happy. I thought he was the perfect guy...and then, one night I had been rehearsing for this big production that Ryan was choreographing, and I stayed a few minutes afterwards to talk to him. I had to meet Robbie afterwards and I was running late, so I went to leave, and I hugged Ryan on the way out and Robbie walked in and he saw it and then we walked outside and he just...he just lost it and.." She looked up at Jason and he saw that she was crying.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this." She said quietly. "Not yet."

"It's okay." Jason said. He put his arm around and let her cry into his shirt. "He's not going to come anywhere near you again. I'm here now. I'm going to protect you."

She looked up at him through her tears. "I'm glad your here." She said quietly."But why?"

"What do you mean, why?" Jason asked.

"Why do you like me?" She asked. "Why do you want to be with me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He asked. He started playing with her hair.

"Because," She said simply. "I'm nothing special. You can do so much better than me."

Jason grabbed her hands. "Look at me." He said quietly. "That is not true. You're the most amazing girl I've ever met. You're smart, beautiful, talented, and strong. There isn't a girl in the world that measures up to you."

"You mean that?" She asked, and he noticed that she had started crying again.

"Of course I do." He said. "You're the only girl I've ever loved, or ever wanted to be with. I know that Robbie probably filled your head with lies but you have to put all that out of your mind, because your so much better than that."

She sniffed. "You're the only one I've ever loved, too." She said. "I always told myself that I loved Robbie, but I think...I think it was just to give myself an excuse to stay with him. You're the one I really wanted to be with but I figured that you didn't want to be with me." She said. "So I just stayed with him, because I guess I just figured it was better than being alone."

"You were never alone. You always had me, and your friends, and your family. All of us care about you." He said. "And now you'll never have to worry about being hurt, or being alone again." He smiled. "You have me."

She looked at him in the eye for the first time in a while. She couldn't believe he had meant everything he had said in the past few minutes, but his eyes showed that he was totally genuine. So she went on impulse for the first time in what felt like forever. "Everything you feel about me....I feel the same way."

And then she kissed him.

* * *

**Soo...opinions please! This chapter took me forever and a day to write even though it's really not all that long. But I figured that this would hold all of you through for a while, especially considering how much Jelsi this had in it! And I know that half of it was just Robbie, but I figured he was a big part of the story too- he needs some background information. And I know he was acting, well, not like a monster, but he's an actor, remember? You haven't seen the last of him either! Hopefully I'll be able to update soon, but I don't really know when it'll be! Review like crazy!!! :) :) :) **


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

**Sorry x 10 again that it's been sooo long, but I warned you didn't I? Honestly, I'm basically out of ideas for the rest of this story, so I guess I'll have to write them as they come to me...and sadly, I think it might end in just a few more chapters. :( I'm still not ready to let it go! It's like my baby :( Okay, I will stop being overdramatic now and GET ON WITH IT!**

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He had only driven about 15 miles when he heard the sirens. He looked in his rearview mirror, hoping to see another car behind him was speeding or swerving, or anything else worthy of getting pulled over, and his fear increased when he realized that his was the only car on the road.

"How the hell did this happen?" He wondered. The only person he'd seen or talked to was Hank, and there was no way he would have ratted him out- right?

As the sirens got closer, he looked in his rearview mirror again, and seeing the two police cars, he pulled over because he knew the last thing he needed added to his jail sentence was a car chase.

"My life is over," He thought as he waited for the police to surround him, but surprisingly, the cars sped right on by. It wasn't until then that he realized he hadn't been breathing. As his heartrate slowed, he realized something must have happened in the town ahead-an accident, a robbery, even a murder. At that point, he could care less-all that mattered was that he was still free.

He knew inside him that he deserved to go to jail, and even a part of him was tempted to just go and turn himself in. But there was just one thing he needed to do before he could even consider it: Get revenge.

* * *

"Remember that Robert kid who used to come in here? You know, the one you always said you wanted to see grow up because you knew he'd have such a bright future?" The last few words were dripping with sarcasm. "He's wanted for assault and kidnapping and God only knows what else."

Hank looked up at the man standing in front of him, surprised to see it was Paul, a local, who he'd never heard say a bad thing about anyone, or even spread the gossip like most people did. "Please, tell me that's a joke." But Hank knew inside that it wasn't. He had seen it himself- when the strange car had pulled in the parking lot, he'd kept a close eye out, waiting for the person to step out- meaning, he noticed that he waited until everyone else was gone. Once he'd realized who it was, he'd shrugged it off.

"No. Wish I could say I was." Paul said. "But why does it bother you? It's been like, what, at least 5 years since you've seen him. Things can change."

"No." Hank said. His face was pale and he could feel his heart rate quicken.

"No? What do you mean, no?" Paul said, rolling his eyes. "I know it must be hard to believe. I know you really liked the kid but it's been all over the news and-"

"I mean, no, it hasn't been years." Hank said. "He was in here about 30 minutes ago."

Paul's jaw dropped. "And that's why I always tell you: watch the news. Read the paper. Do something to stay informed. If you would have just done that, he could have been in _jail_ by now."

"Paul," Hank said angrily. "Now is not the time. And no, not even this is going to make me change my habits. But I will call the police- I didn't get the license plate of his car, but I know what kind it was, and he couldn't have got too far. I know it won't be that much, but maybe it'll at least help a little?"

"Do it." Paul said. "And if he comes back here, give him a kick in the nuts for me."

As soon as the local station was on the line, Hank repeated what he knew; Blue 2009 Dodge Journey, going left on highway 233. He looked up after the police thanked him for the call to see Paul still standing in front of him.

"I know he deserves jail." Hank said. "But I still hate that I'm going to be part of the reason he's sent there."

* * *

_There was a knock on the door. Kelsi rolled over and found no one in the bed beside her. Where was Jason? When had she fallen asleep? Was it him knocking on the door?_

_She got up. "It must be Jason." She thought. "It has to be."_

_She opened the door. "Surprise." _

_Kelsi screamed and backed up. It was Robbie. He had, somehow, managed to follow her there._

_"Did you really think you could lose me so easily?" He said, taking a menacing step toward her. "You were never exactly smart, Kelsi."_

_Her breathing was heavy. She thought she had been scared before- but nothing like this. "You told the police. You told all your damn friends. And you fucking_ kissed _another guy!" He yelled. "You know what that means, don't you?"_

_She didn't say anything, just kept backing up until the back of her legs hit the bed. _

_"It means you're going to pay."_

_He pushed her back, sending her flying towards the bed. She struggled to get up, but he punched her in the face causing her to fly backwards again. The next thing she knew, he was on top of her, ripping at her shirt. _

_"No!" She screamed. "Stop! Don't!"_

_"Don't bother screaming." He whispered in her face. His breath smelled like alcohol. "No one can hear you."_

And then she woke up, tossing and turning, completely tangled up in her sheets. "Kelsi!" Jason was yelling. "Wake up!"

She sat up, breathing hard. Jason put his arms around her. "You're okay." He said softly. "It was just a dream."

Sharpay burst into the room, followed by Zeke and Ryan. "What the hell is going on here?" She yelled.

"Don't worry about it, Sharpay." Jason said. "Kelsi just had a bad dream. Actually, I think it would be best if you just left for now...no offense, of course."

"Fine." She said, and Zeke followed her out. Ryan, however, stayed, standing in the doorway.

"Kels." He said softly. "Are you sure you're okay."

She nodded and forced out a smile at him. "It was just a dream." She whispered.

"Okay." He said. "Well, I guess I'll uhm, go."

He slipped back out the door, and Jason turned to Kelsi. "You wanna tell me about it?" He asked gently.

"Not really." She admitted. "But I will." As she described her dream in detail, Jason found it hard to stay calm. He knew getting mad at Robbie, especially for something he didn't actually do, was not going to help Kelsi out at all.

"Did he ever actually try to...." He trailed off. He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"Rape me?" She said. "No. I mean, he pressured me sometimes but he never actually tried anything."

Jason breathed a sigh of relief.

"Actually, we never even had sex." She said.

Jason raised his eyebrows. "You look surprised." Kelsi said.

"I am." He said. "I mean, I just thought that a guy like him would have....I don't know."

"He wanted to." She said. "But I kept telling him I wasn't ready. It always made him pretty mad. I think he cheated on me a few times but...honestly, I never really cared. At least it meant he stayed away from me."

"Well...I'm glad you didn't." Jason said. "Most people....they would have given into the pressure. And here you are, thinking you aren't strong."

"Obviously, I'm not." She said. "If I was, I never would have stayed with him for so long."

"Yes, you are Kels. Most people who've been through what you've been through aren't half as strong as you are." He said. "I mean, you come out of this and honestly, you seem fine. I mean, you don't want to sit around and mope or live in the past. You're strength...it's just one of the many reasons I love you."

Kelsi smiled shyly. "I love you too." She whispered, then leaned in to kiss him for the second time. Of course, Ryan chose that exact moment to barge in again.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting...something, but uhm, I just heard something on the news and thought you guys might want to know."

"What is it?" Kelsi asked, blushing.

"Well, uhm, some guy at a gas station said Robbie was in there like an hour ago, and now they're on the lookout for him in this other car and apparently, he was in Georgia and headed in a totally different direction so....I guess he isn't coming back here, at least."

"Thank God." Kelsi said. "You know, he could be going to North Carolina. That's where his parents live...I don't think the police know that."

"I'll call." Ryan said. "You two...get back to whatever you were doing." Kelsi blushed again and saw that Jason was too.

When the door was shut, Jason leaned in to kiss her again. Soon, they were full on making out- and that was what they did for another ten minutes.

"Jason." Kelsi said after she came up for air, breathing hard.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"I know this is probably going to sound weird but...." She paused and took in a deep breath. "I think I'm ready."

* * *

**YES YES YES, I had to end it there. Bahaha. Are they actually going to do it? Well, I haven't decided yet. And IF, big if right now, they even do it, IT WILL NOT BE DESCRIPTIVE. At all. I can not write sex scenes. I don't even like READING them. I always skip through them. Haha. Just warning you :) Anyway, reviews are much appreciated- don't know when I'll be able to update again, but it'll be ASAP(which could be tomorrow or a month from now). REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW :)**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

**I am so BEYOND, BEYOND, incredibly sorry about not updating in so long and I know a lot of people have probably just lost hope but PLEASE DON'T, I will finish this eventually. I haven't been able to, but even if I had I probably wouldn't have because I literally haven't had a single idea in over a month. Plus, I don't think I've ever been this busy in my entire life. Ugh! But anyway, hopefully I'll be able to update again soon after this too.**

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He looked up at her for a minute, looking surprised. "Are you sure?" He asked, breathing hard.

She didn't pause to think, caught up in the moment. "Yeah."

Clothes were flying- her shirt, then his, her pants, and then- "I can't do this." She said. "I'm sorry, Jason, really... I just…I don't know why I even bothered. It's too soon."

"It's okay." He said. "I was actually kind of expecting that to happen."

"Then why didn't you just say something?" She asked.

"Because," he said simply. " I knew you wouldn't believe me if you didn't try it for yourself."

She smiled as she got up, gathering her clothes. He really did know her well. That was the way she'd always been- she never believed anything until she actually experienced it for herself.

She tossed him his shirt, which was draped over a lampshade. "You might need this." She said, smirking.

"What, you're not enjoying this view?" He joked, pointing to his exposed chest and stomach.

"God." Kelsi said. "Could you be anymore cocky?" She would never admit that he was right; she was having a hard time keeping her eyes off of him.

He just rolled his eyes, pulling his shirt back over his head.

"I'm bored." She said. "When are we leaving? I mean, we can't stay in this hotel forever. We're going to have to stop running eventually and just go home."

"No idea." Jason said.

"Okay, well, I'm going to ask Sharpay. She seems to be the one in charge." Kelsi said.

"It's Sharpay." He said. "She always thinks she's in charge."

Kelsi smiled, then walked out. "Where's Sharpay?" She asked Ryan, who was sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Her room." He pointed to a closed door. "Don't bother knocking. She's probably sleeping and I'm sure you remember that she could probably sleep through an earthquake."

Ryan was right. She remembered trying to get up with Sharpay for hours of rehearsal time back in high school, and eventually going to look for her, only to that she'd slept through at least 10 phone calls and at least 20 texts and was still sleeping.

She opened the door, at first, all she saw was a tangle of bodies. It took her a minute to realize that what she was seeing was Sharpay and Zeke- naked. "Oh God! Sorry!" She slammed the door.

"What is it?" Ryan asked, running over to where she was.

"I wouldn't do that if I were-" Too late. Ryan threw the door open.

"My eyes!" He yelled, covering his face with his hand, and trying to close the door with the other.

"I tried to warn you." Kelsi said.

Ryan gave her a dirty look. "I don't think I'll ever recover from that." He said.

"Me neither." Kelsi said.

"You? You didn't walk in on your _sister _having sex!" Kelsi couldn't help but laugh, earning her another dirty look from Ryan.

Sharpay chose that second to walk out. Thankfully, she was fully clothed, but sweaty, with hair going in every direction. "Sorry." She said, still sounding out of breath. "I'm sure you didn't want to see that."

"Uh, yeah, you think?" Ryan said sarcastically. "I think I need some air."

As soon as Ryan walked out, Kelsi and Sharpay both busted out laughing. "I think he's going to have that picture burned into his brain forever." Kelsi said.

"I'm sure it'll probably take years of therapy for that to go away!" Sharpay joked.

Kelsi laughed. "Uhm, do you think we're going to like, leave anytime soon?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Do you want to?" Sharpay asked. "I mean, it's totally up to you. If you feel safe going back, I guess it would be okay to."

"I'm not really sure, but I mean, we can't stay in a hotel forever. It could be weeks or even months before they find him and I think it would be better to just stop running." She said.

"And I totally agree." Sharpay said. "So I guess I'll go tell everyone else we're leaving if you tell Jason and Ryan, well, if you can find him."

"Okay." Kelsi said. "Oh, and we still need to stop so I can get a phone."

Sharpay started to walk to the door to go tell Troy and Gabriella and the others. "Hey Sharpay?" Kelsi stopped her as she was about to open the door.

"Yeah?" Sharpay asked.

"Uh, you might want to uh, do something to your hair unless you want them to know you were-"

"Yeah, you're definitely right." Sharpay said, seeing her reflection for the first time in the mirror hung on the wall opposite her.

Kelsi walked back into the room she was sharing with Jason. "We're leaving as soon as Sharpay tells everyone else." She said.

"That was fast." Jason said. "But I'm totally with you; I'm not a huge fan of hotels."

Kelsi sat down on the bed, bouncing her leg up and down, suddenly really anxious to get out of there. "Hey Jason?" She said. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"Of course." He said, sitting on the bed beside her. "What is it?" He looked concerned.

"Oh, it's nothing bad. It really has nothing to do with me, actually, but uh," She paused, trying to think of a way to say what she had to say. "When I went to look for Sharpay, I kind of walked in on her and Zeke, uhm, doing it."

"Oh my God!" Jason busted out laughing. "I am so sorry you had to see that."

"I think I'll be okay, unlike Ryan." She said. "He was seriously traumatized.

"Ryan saw it too?" He laughed again. "Seeing your sister have sex with anyone, especially one of your friends? I can't imagine him recovering from that for a long time."

"Are ya'll ready?" Sharpay poked her head in the door, and Kelsi could see Jason trying to hold in laughter.

"Yeah." She said. "But I don't know where Ryan is." Jason snorted and Kelsi elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to turn his laughter into a fake cough.

Sharpay narrowed her eyes at the two of them before walking out. "Ow!" Jason said after she closed the door, rubbing his rib. "You didn't have to elbow me _that _hard!"

Kelsi smiled. "Sorry?" She said and he rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah, whatever." He said. He got up and walked to the door and Kelsi followed.

She walked to the door where Sharpay and Zeke were already waiting. Before walking out, she looked around the hotel for the last time, glad to be going home. Glad to be leaving this terrible part of her life behind, and finally be truly moving on.

* * *

Robbie had turned the car around. It wasn't like he knew where he was going in the first place; he was just driving. But after almost getting caught by the cops, the realization him that he didn't have much time left to do what he needed to before he was thrown in jail.

That was why he was now on his way back to Albuquerque- to get revenge. On Kelsi, her friends, and most of all, Jason- the one he knew she was in love with.

He sped through the back roads, rarely meeting cars and only going under 100 when he was going through a town. He had to get there fast. He had to pay her pay.

He had to make them _all _pay.

* * *

**I have amazing news; I think all those issues have actually HAVE been resolved and I think I'll be able to update more frequently now! And finally, after two months of nothing, MY WRITERS BLOCK IS GONE! I already have the next chapter planned out- well, part of it. And I'm sure you can tell Robbie is not done- not anywhere near done, actually. When I said this story was almost over, I lied. I think it'll be at least 5 or 6 more chapters because ideas are just coming and coming. Thank you for waiting for this for so long :) REVIEW LIKE CRAZY!!!**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

**Just to let all my dedicated readers(if I have any left) know, I am now free to update whenever the heck I want! FINALLY! Jeez. That took long enough to clear up. Anyway, mentioning the dedicated readers, ARE YOU THERE? I got no reviews for my last chapter. That was seriously depressing, especially considering it had been like, 3 months since the last update!**

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They were almost ready to go. They had checked out of the hotel and loaded everything in the cars, but they were still missing one thing- Ryan.

"I'll look around back." Kelsi said. They had looked almost everywhere, but Ryan was still no where to be found.

She had reached the pool in the back of the hotel when she found him. "Ryan, what the hell are you doing?"

He laying in a lounge chair, pants legs up to his knees and his shirt unbuttoned. "I'm trying to get a tan!" He yelled in a voice that screamed, "duh."

Kelsi rolled her eyes. "It's like, 65 degrees out you idiot!" She yelled.

"But it's sunny!" He said, raising his eyebrows, thinking he had said something clever.

"Yeah, but it'll probably take you another good three hours before you can see any difference!" She said.

His face fell. "Oh."

"We're leaving, so, unless you want to stay here and, uh, "tan", you should probably come with us." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Coming!" He yelled, jumping out of the chair and managing to trip over a chair leg in the process. She pretended not to notice, and shook her head, walking away.

Ryan followed her to the car. "Nuh-uh." He said, once he saw that he was set up to ride in the same car as Sharpay. "I am NOT riding with her!"

Troy, Gabriella, Taylor, and Chad all looked confused, while Jason and Kelsi both tried unsuccessfully to hold in a laugh. "Why?" Taylor asked after no one offered an explanation.

"You don't even want to know." Kelsi said, and they figured that, since it _was _Ryan and Sharpay, they really didn't.

"You can ride with us." Jason, who was driving, said. "I get why you don't want to ride with her.."

"You told him?" Ryan asked Kelsi.

"Yep." She said. "But don't tell Sharpay or she'll probably kill me."

"How could I tell her? I'm not speaking to her." Ryan got in the car, slamming his door for dramatic effect.

It was finally time to leave. Sharpay, Zeke, Taylor, and Chad pulled out of the parking lot first, followed by the rest. All of them were happy to be leaving the hotel and going home.

Kelsi looked over at Jason, and he smiled at her "Let your new life begin." He said, reaching over and squeezing her hand.

She smiled back. _It couldn't get any better, _she thought.

If only they knew what was coming.

* * *

Robbie had no specific plan. All he knew was that something had to be done about Jason. As in, Jason needed to die.

After all, it was what he deserved. He had taken the most important thing in his life away from him, and he didn't deserve to live after doing that.

And he knew, he just _knew, _that once Jason was gone, Kelsi would get over whatever she had been going through in the first place- delusions, he assumed- and realize that she was still in love with him. He had been the one, after all, to accept her, love her, take her in, put up with her stupidity, when no one else had. Back when she was just a lonely nobody college student, he had found her, and turned her into something. His. At least, that was how he saw it.

He had driven across 2 states in half the time it would have normally taken to drive across one. He never considered the possibility that they might not be back in Albuquerque. His mind had pretty much gone blank altogether when it came to anything but getting revenge. Nothing else seemed important enough to even think about.

He had always been one of those people, though, the ones who, once they had their mind set on something, it stayed there. And this, this, was probably the most determined he had ever been in his life.

It didn't matter how many complications were thrown in his way. Nothing was going to stop him. He _would _get revenge.

* * *

They had been driving for 24 hours. They'd stopped a few times for pit stops, to eat, and to pick up Kelsi's new phone. Jason had driven, then Taylor, then Chad, and then they started all over again. They were in shifts; 4 hours each. They had refused to let Kelsi drive, no matter how much she insisted that she didn't mind.

Jason had just started driving again; they were in the last leg of the trip, about three-fourths of the way across Texas. Kelsi had her head on Jason's shoulder. She knew she should have been excited like the rest of them that they would be home in less than four hours, but to her, just being there with Jason was enough. She didn't care if she ever saw home again as long as she could stay with him.

They had pretty much stopped talking once they reached Texas. Chad and Taylor had had a fight and were not speaking, the third time it happened since the trip started, and Kelsi and Jason had stopped trying to make conversation when they realized that they weren't going to make any progress. After all, they could about the really important things later. They had all the time in the world, right?

Wrong.

* * *

Robbie was about halfway through Texas when he spotted them. Luckily, he had a good memory of cars and he recognized Jason's right away. When they stopped at a gas station, he realized the other one belonged to one of her other friends, whose named he couldn't remember- not that it really seemed important at that point.

He had been trailing them for the last two hours, being discreet enough that none of them noticed. Now, he was just waiting for the right moment.

* * *

Almost four hours had passed; "Albuqeuerque Exit-20 miles". When they saw the sign, they all cheered. Home. Had there ever been a sweeter word?

They were all ready to be home; Sharpay was ready to see her daugter. Zeke was ready to get back to his restaurant. Chad and Taylor were ready to get away from each other. Gabriella and Troy were ready to get back to wedding planning. Ryan was ready to sleep in his own bed. Jason and Kelsie were ready to get back to each other.

They all had expectations. They didn't know that their fantasies were about to be severely disrupted.

* * *

They had reached the Albuquerque exit; when they turned, Robbie turned too. It was almost 10 o'clock at night; they were almost alone on the road.

He waited until they were right beside the highest point of the ditch, then he made his move.

He sped up, ramming into the side of Jason's car.

* * *

_ Bump. _"What the hell?" Jason looked over. Kelsi screamed when she saw that it was Robbie. _Bump._

The car started slid over to wear it was almost hanging off the road. Robbie moved his into theirs, forcing them farther and farther off the road until there was just no more room.

They felt themselves fall over the edge, the car flipped, and then there was nothing but-

Darkness.

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**Oh my gosh, I'm pretty sure pretty much everyone hates me right now. Hahaha! I know, that was pretty much the worst thing that I could have possibly done, but once the idea got in my head, I HAD TO! Oh, and sorry it's such a short chapter, but I think I said all that needed to be said. And sorry for switching back and forth a millions times at the end, but I just wanted the effect :) I'll try to update really soon so you don't all lose your minds :) But until then, REVIEW LIKE CRAZY :) :) :)**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

**I know it's kind of been a while :( Sorry. I have been crazy-busy, and will be for the rest of December, pretty much, so updates will probably be minimal until '10. Also, I've been debating between two different ways to write this chapter, and I wish I could ask you, as in you who are reading this, which you'd want, but….I guess I can't really do that. So I guess I've finally decided to stick with my original idea instead of the more dramatic one that would make the story continue on for like, 10 more chapters! Enjoy :)**

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The first thing she could make out was a steady beeping. Her eyes flew open, and all she saw was white. White walls. A hospital.

She tried to push herself up our of the bed to sit up, when she realized that she could move one arm. Someone was holding her hand. It was Ryan, who had, somehow, managed to fall asleep in the uncomfortable chair. He had a cast around his right arm, and she could see that there were a few cuts on his face.

That's when it all came rushing back to her. Robbie, the accident, the car behind forced off the road, then falling, falling… How long had she been there?

She shook Ryan's good arm, trying to wake him up. "Ryan." She said, but her voice came out a hoarse whisper.

Thankfully, it was enough to make him wake up. "You're awake?" He asked, sounding half asleep. "Oh my God! You're awake!" He got up and hugged Kelsi with his good arm.

"How long was I asleep?" She croaked.

"Oh, God, you definitely need water." He ran over to the bathroom that was connected to her room and filled a cup. "Oh, uh, three days."

"Three days?" She turned to look at him. It was then that she saw herself in the mirror. There was a white bandage in the middle of her forehead, and cuts and bruises almost all over her face. One of her arms had a bandage covering almost the whole thing and the other had a long line of stitches. She threw back the sheets of the bed and saw that one of her legs had a cast on it. "Ugh. My leg is broken? Seriously?"

"Yeah, and you're lucky that's all that happened! I mean, we all could have died…." He said.

"How is everybody?" She asked. "Did they catch Robbie? Are the ones who rode in the other car hurt, too?"

"Yes, they caught Robbie. No, they didn't get hurt." He paused. "And, uh, everyone's okay for the most part, except for cuts and bruises. Chad broke his ankle and Taylor fractured her arm in like six places…and uhh…yeah…." He trailed off.

"Jason?" She started to panic. "Is Jason okay? Oh my god, is he dead?"

"Um…" He sighed. "They don't really know yet."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her heart pounding in her ears.

"He's not dead." Ryan said quickly. "But uh, he hasn't exactly woken up yet."

"But he's okay, right?" She asked.

"He's in a coma."

* * *

Three days earlier, immediately after the accident

Robbie never meant for it to happen that way. It wasn't his original plan. Why? Because the main point of it was to get Kelsi back, and he couldn't exactly do that when she just had possibly been killed, now could he?

He was driving the rest of the way up the road when the car in front of him, full of the rest of Kelsi's friends, stopped.

He heard the high pitched scream as the blonde, the annoying one who was named after a dog, stepped out of the car and saw what had happened. Why couldn't she have been in the other car? He found himself thinking, as he drove around them.

He had figured out by that point that there was pretty much no way he wouldn't get caught. He had been driving for less than 5 minutes when the two ambulances, and three police cars rushed by him. The last police car was the one who payed attention to him.

The guy looked at him, and tried his best to look away innocently, but he knew he had been recognized. It probably didn't help that there were numerous scratches and a dent on the side of his car.

He sped up, even though he knew there was really no point, and watched from his rearview mirror as the police car did a quick U-turn and came speeding after him, his blue lights flashing. He didn't let it go on long, however, because the fact that Kelsi might actually be dead suddenly hit him, and he was crying so hard he could barely see the road. All he could do was pull over, and wait.

He knew it was all over.

* * *

Present time, the hospital

Jason was in a coma. It was still sinking into Kelsi's brain when Sharpay burst through the door, holding two cups of coffee.

"Hey, Ry, I brought you some-" She let out a high pitched squeal.

"Oh my God! Kelsi!" She yelled."Why didn't anyone tell me?" She asked Ryan.

"Well, maybe because she woke up like, two minutes ago, literally." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh...Well I am so glad you're okay! I've got to go tell Troy and Gabi, they're sitting with..." He voice trailed off.

"Did you tell her?" She whispered to Ryan, but it wasn't much of a whisper because Kelsi heard every word clearly.

"I know about Jason." She said softly before Ryan could answer.

"Oh." Sharpay said. "Well uh, yeah. I'm going to tell them and Taylor and Chad, and I guess I should call Zeke."

"Okay." She said, although she really didn't want company at that point. Or at least, that was what she thought until her mom walked in. She had never been so happy to see anyone in her whole life- even Jason.

If she would have been able to stand, she would have ran and jumped into her mom's arms, but her mom had her arms around her neck, almost cutting off her airway, before she could even speak. "I was so worried about you!" She yelled, tears soaking through Kelsi's hospital gown. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Yeah, me too, but you're kinda choking me." She said, and her mom instantly released her grip a little.

"So it's all over now?" She asked, sitting down in the chair beside Kelsi's bed. Ryan had got up and left to give her some space, and she was honestly really happy that she finally had a chance to just sit and talk to her mom, without Robbie there to moniter her every word. "I mean, with that asshole."

"Not really... well, sort of." Kelsi said. "I mean, there's going to be a trial and all that, and I'm pretty sure I'll have to testify, but he's going to be in jail, at least for a while, no matter what happens in court."

"Good!" She said. "So, from what I've heard from, uh, accidentally listening in on a few of your friends conversations, there's another man in your life already."

Kelsi rolled her eyes. Her mom was pretty much the nosiest person in the world; of course she'd been listening in on everyone's conversations. "Well, I guess you could say that." She couldn't help but smile. "But... he's in a coma now, because of the car accident." Her voice broke. "And they don't know if he's going to wake up."

"Oh, sweetheart...all of that, and now this?" She wrapped her arms around her again. "And it's all _his _fault. I should kill the bastard."

"He's not even worth going to jail for, but I wish I could, too." She said. "He ruined all my plans." She whispered.

"Plans?"

"Yeah. I thought since I was finally away from him, I could move on with my life, with Jason, and be happy." She said. "But I guess happily-ever-afters don't happen in real life." She was crying by that point, all the tears she'd been trying desperately to keep in ever since Ryan told her about Jason.

"Don't worry sweetie." Her mom grapped her hand and squeezed it. "No one deserves happiness more than you do. You'll get your happily-ever-after."

And she tried really hard to believe it.

* * *

**Ehh? I didn't really like most of this chapter much, but I just figured that this is as good as it gets, so I posted it anyway. Just a note, I'm almost positive that I won't update until AT LEAST the 17, probably the 18, because I'm going to be insanely busy! And knowing me, it might not even come before Christmas, but hopefully it will. Sorry for the slow updates and short chapters; I'm still trying to get back in the swing of things. Until then, REVIEW!**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

**I'm really hoping I get this up before Christmas. It's the 20****th****, now(well technically the 21****st**** since it's after midnight), but I don't know if I will because I only have the beginning of the written. And again, I ask, what the hell happened to all my faithful readers, or maybe I should just say reviewers since I only got TWO reviews for my last chapter. Oh well, I don't dwell on it considering I pretty much wrote this whole story for my own entertainment (:**

**

* * *

  
**

It had been a week. 7 days. 168 hours. 10080 minutes. And counting. Jason was still not awake.

They had all finally been released from the hospital, but Kelsi hadn't left Jason's bedside since they let her in, not even to eat, sleep or shower.

She had pretty much stopped talking to all of them and she always seemed to be broken, like her heart had literally been crushed. And in a way, it had. She loved Jason more than anything in the world, and now, his life was hanging in the balance and she had nothing to do but wait.

They had, at first, tried to make sure someone was with her at all times so she would have to just sit there, staring at Jason's body, as if the fact that she was watching would make him wake up faster. Eventually though, she convinced them to stop, said it would be 'better that way'. None of them really understood what she meant, but they left her alone for the most part, only stopping in once a day to check up on them.

She had pretty much stopped sleeping. At the most, she would get 2 or 3 hours a night, because every time she closed her eyes the accident would replay itself over and over in her head, and when she did sleep she would have nightmares. Always about one of two things; Robbie coming into the hospital room, or being told Jason was dead. To her, they were equally terrifying, and she was almost afraid to go to sleep.

No one else, even Zeke, his best friend, thought he was going to wake up- of course, they'd never tell Kelsi that; they knew it would just kill her. They had, after a few days had passed, even gotten together to talk about disconnecting his life support. It was their decision, since they couldn't find any relatives. He never knew his dad- no one even knew who he was, and his mom had lost her long battle with cancer 3 years earlier. His grandparents were dead, and his mom had been an only child.

The only ones left, really were his friends, and none of them knew what to do. All they really knew was that basically, his life was resting in their hands.

* * *

Was that a flinch, a movement? Kelsi sat by Jason's bedside, staring intently, seeing an imaginary movement for the 6th time in 10 minutes. No, of course it wasn't. She wondered if Jason was even still in there. Why, she thought, _why _did this have to happen to Jason, of all people. She would have been willing to sacrifice her friends, even herself, but not Jason. He deserved to live.

She just wasn't meant to be happy. That was the conclusion she had finally reached. Happiness had been what she'd expected when she finally escaped Robbie, and for about 3 days she thought that was what she was going to get. 3 damn days. And then the one person she loved the most had to be taken away from her, making her even more miserable than she had been with Robbie.

Some people, she realized, were meant to be happy, some weren't- and she was really afraid she was in the second category.

* * *

"How's she doing?" Sharpay asked Ryan. He had just returned from checking up on Kelsi and Jason at the hospital.

"Delusional." He said. Sharpay raised her eyebrows. "I could barely get her to say a word, and when I did it sounded like psycho babble.

"Psycho babble, Ryan, really?" Sharpay rolled her eyes. "Can you really blame her for being this way? I mean, what if it had been me who was in a coma right now? I mean, what if it had been Kelsi? I know she's your best friend and I know for a fact you wouldn't leave her bedside unless you were physically forced to."

"I guess you're right." He said, sighing. "I'm just really worried about her. She's starting to scare me."

"Uncle Ryan, are you okay?" Ryleigh was standing in the doorway.

"Yes, Ry, I'm fine." He said.

Ryleigh shook her head. "You're lying." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mommy, why is everybody sad?" She asked.

Everyone had tried to keep up appearances around Ryleigh for the past week, but considering Ryleigh was unusually perceptive for someone her age, she had caught on.

"You remember Jason, right sweetie?" Sharpay asked.

"Yes." Ryleigh said.

"He's in the hospital and we're all just worried about him." Sharpay said.

"Is he sick?" Ryleigh asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"Yes." Sharpay said. She felt bad lying, but she knew the truth would be hard for a 6 year old to understand.

"Can I make him a get well card?" She asked. Sharpay nodded and she started to walk into the other room to get her materials, but she turned around. "Did you give the other card to Kelsi?" She asked.

"No, but maybe we should take it to her." Sharpay said, thinking that a visit from Ryleigh might, at least temporarily, distract her.

"Does she still live next door with the mean man?" She asked, her eyes concerned but still innocent.

"No, not anymore." Sharpay said.

Ryleigh smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "Good." She said.

"Why don't you go make that card for Jason and then we'll go to the hospital, okay?"

"Okay!" Ryleigh said, skipping off happily to the next room.

"That girl is way too old to be six." Ryan said shaking his head.

"Tell me about it!" Sharpay said. "Sometimes it's really hard to believe she came from me."

"Please, she's just like you!" Ryan said. "Believe me, one day she's going to be an actress one day."

"I'm ready!" Ryleigh announced, walking back in carrying a card that was written and colored surprisingly neat for a 6 year old.

"Okay, let's go then." Sharpay said. "Ryan, are you coming?"

"I guess." He said. "Even though I just left there."

"You don't sound very hopeful." Sharpay accused.

"I know...I'm not." He said. "I just...I don't really see her being any better unless Jason wakes up."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to try, does it?" Sharpay snapped."If you're coming, we're leaving now."

"Fine." Ryan said, sighing. "But please, Sharpay, don't get your hopes up."

* * *

It must have been a year, she thought, a week is just not possible. Kelsi sat there, by Jason's bed, holding his hand. One of Jason's nurses had come in, and mentioned she'd been there a week. Since then, she'd been sitting there trying to wrap her brain around the fact that she had only been there a week.

She realized that everyone had, by that point, started thinking she was crazy- maybe she was! She didn't feel like she knew anything anymore, and nothing really seemed to matter. She had stopped paying attention to night and day, and that fact she had not showered in over a week didn't bother her even a like eating, sleeping, and bathing were not even on her list of priorities anymore, neither were people.

The only thing that mattered was Jason.

* * *

"She looks really sad, mommy." Was the first thing out of Ryleigh mouth when they stopped by the window.

"I know, sweetie." Sharpay said sighing. "That's why you have to be really happy and try to cheer her up! Do you think you can do that?"

"I think so." Ryleigh said. "I'm good at making people happy, right?" She asked, her little hand resting on the doorknob.

"You can always make me happy." Ryan said, giving her an encouraging smile.

Ryleigh opened the door. "Hi, Kelsi." She said shyly.

"Hi." Kelsi said back, trying to muster up a smile. It wasn't that she didn't want to see them; it was just that she didn't really care.

She reluctantly handed her the card, but stepped back as soon as she did. "Thanks, Ryleigh." She said, her smile looking more real that time.

Ryleigh tugged on her Sharpay's arm. "What am I supposed to do with this?" She whispered, holding up Jason's card.

"Just sit it by his bed. He'll see it when he wakes up." Sharpay said.

She did, then looked back at Kelsi shyly. "Is it okay if I hug you?" She asked quietly.

"Of course." Kelsi said, reaching out to hug her.

"Do you feel better?" She asked. "How'd you break your leg?"

"I was in a car accident." Kelsi said. "And yes, you made me feel a lot better."

Ryleigh smiled, and turned to Sharpay. "When is Jason going to wake up?" She asked.

That caused all the progress they'd made with Kelsi to go away; her smile disappeared and her hand immediately went back on Jason's.

"Soon." Sharpay said, faking a smile.

"He just squeezed my hand!" Kelsi said suddenly. "Jason? Jason, are you there?"

"She does this once every hour, Sharpay, don't get your hopes up." Ryan whispered.

And then Jason opened his eyes.

* * *

**MERRY CHRISTMAS! This is all of y'all's present from me :) And here comes the happy ending! It's all uphill, from here, butterflies and rainbows :) Unless, of course, you don't want me to because I have a perfectly good idea of a definitely not-so-happy-ending, but I'd really rather not write it. After all, who deserves a happy ending more than Jason and Kelsi?...ESPECIALLY Kelsi. Isn't it unbelievable that this story was started over a year ago? That makes me feel like a REALLY slow writer...but considering I made a 10 chapter story last almost two years once, I guess this isn't TOO bad. Yes, this story is finally coming to a close. If everything I have planned ends up working out, it should end at 31 chapters...and after that, I have something else HSM planned that is going to be absolutely INSANE- basically the most dark and twisty version of HSM you're going to get...so be watching out for it if you're into that kind of thing :) REVIEWWW LIKE CRAZY!**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

**Oh my gosh! It's been months, I am SO sorry! I can't believe I went this long without updating. I'm sure most people have forgotten about and/or given up on this story since it's been so long. There will only be another chapter or two after this. By the way, this story has been nominated for Best Tragedy and Best Romance in the FanficGrammys, so please vote for me. I know the link is on xhoneymariex's profile, so just take just a few seconds out of your day and vote. It would mean the WORLD to me :)**

* * *

**Six Months Later**

The church was decorated beautifully. The guests were starting to arrive, all talking about beautiful wedding that was about to take place.

In a room off to the ride of the chapel, the bride and bridesmaids were getting ready. "Are you ready for this?" Taylor, the maid of honor, asked.

"I think I've been ready for this since high school." Gabriella said, looking at herself in the full-length mirror. Her dress was beautiful, but simple. It was strapless and it flowed out at the bottom.

The bridesmaids, Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi were all in light blue, about knee-length dresses.

"Isn't it hard to believe that six months ago half of us were laying in hospital beds?" Kelsi asked. They reminisced often, mostly about high school, and usually left out all the bad memories.

There was a knock on the door. "Ten minutes girls!" It was the wedding director, Donna Meyers. She opened the door and walked in, giving all the girls a good once over. She was an older woman and usually more on the serious side, and some would say eccentric, but she was the best wedding planner around.

"I knew you would make a beautiful bride." she said to Gabriella, giving her a half smile. "But I have to say the flower girl would have to be the best looking girl in the room.

Ryleigh was sitting in the corner in front of the mirror that had been set up for make up. She had been staring at her self ever since they got there, fascinated by her curly hair and the small amount of make up they had put on her.

"Thank you." She said smiling. As serious as Donna was, she had a huge soft spot for Ryleigh.

"Are you nervous?" She turned back to Gabriella.

"About being married? No. About walking down the aisle and tripping over my dress? Yes." They all laughed.

"Sweetheart you are not going to trip. Tripping down the aisle was not a part of my wedding plan and if I didn't plan it, I guarantee it won't happen."

"Thanks, Donna." Gabriella said with a laugh.

"Well I better go make sure none of the guests get lost and end up in the room with all the groomsmen. I think some of them are still buzzed from last night." Donna walked out, leaving them alone once again.

"Chad and Zeke?" Gabriella asked. They had been the ones throwing back the most drinks the night before.

"Yeah." Sharpay and Taylor both grumbled.

"Figures." Kelsi said. Even in high school, they were the ones most likely to get drunk the fastest and stay drunk the longest.

"I'm so glad Jason doesn't drink much." Kelsi bragged. Sharpay and Taylor both gave her a death-stare.

"Lucky." Taylor snapped.

"Not everyone can have the perfect guy." Sharpay said.

"We do!" Gabriella joined in the bragging, causing them to send more fake death-stares their way.

"Five minutes! Start lining up!" Donna banged on the door again.

They walked out and saw the guys, who immediately started joke-whistling at them.

"You look pretty good for someone with a hangover." Taylor said to Chad, staring him down.

"I didn't drink that much..."Chad protested, but he knew there was no use of lying.

"So when you yelled at, then proceeded to chase the neighbors dog down the street with a stick last night for looking at you funny, you were sober?" Taylor snapped at him.

Chad sighed and pretended to bow his head in shame. "Point taken."

"Shhh!" Donna turned around and shushed them, then opened the door and walked into the crowded sanctuary.

They heard faint voices, then the doors opened. Ryleigh and Jackson, the ringbearer who was one of Troy's younger cousins, walked out first. Ryleigh smiled as she walked, throwing flowers everywhere, including on the guests. All she had been talking about for months was being the flower girl and she was taking full advantage of it.

Sharpay and Zeke walked first, followed by Ryan and Stephanie, one of Gabriella's cousins who he had started to fall for after they'd been introduced a few months before. Kelsi and Jason were next, followed by Taylor and Chad. The doors shut. They waited until everyone had walked down the aisle and took their places at the front, then the traditional wedding march starting playing and the doors opened once again.

All eyes were on Gabriella as she walked down the aisle with her step-father. Her dad had died when she was young, but the man her mom had married had always loved her and treated her like his own daughter.

She made it down the aisle without tripping as she feared, keeping her eyes completey focused on Troy the whole time. There was no doubt to anyone in that church they were in love and meant to be.

They read their vows, with they had both chosen to write indivudually, then the priest anounced them to be officially husband and wife. Everyone in the church stood and clapped as they took their first kiss as a married couple and there was hardly a dry eye in the place.

After they took a few more pictures, they joined the rest of the wedding guests at the reception. Gabriella and Troy danced their first dance as an official married couple, then Gabriella danced with her father. After that, the party was on.

There was drinking, eating, laughing, and congratulations given for a while longer, then the cutting of the wedding cake where Gabriella shocked everyone by shoving a huge piece of cake in Troy's face. After that they all went back outside for the throwing of the bouquet.

Gabriella turned with her back to the crowd of single women and tossed the bouquet over her head. The unsuspecting Kelsi caught it, and everyone cheered. Jason found her afterwards, looking a little uncomfortable.

He grabbed her hand and started leading her up to the stage where the DJ was set up. "What are we doing?" Kelsi asked as she followed him, confused.

"You'll see." He said with a nervous smile.

Once on stage, he grabbed the microphone. "Uh excuse me." He said uncomfortably. Some of the guys who had already been drinking heavily started chanting, "Speech, speech, speech!"

Kelsi's cheeks were burning. What was going on? She immediately knew when Jason got down on one knee.

"I wasn't planning on doing this tonight." He said with nervous laughter. "But after seeing one of my best friends get married to the love of his life, I knew it was time for me to do the same." He paused awkwardly, feeling extremely uncomfortable proposing in front of over 100 people. "We've been through so much in the past few years, both when were together and when were apart. I fell for you in high school and was afraid to tell you, but when I got another chance four years later I knew I couldn't let you pass me by again." He reached in his pocket and took out a black velvet box. "I love you with my whole heart and that is why I decided to get up on this stage in front of all these people and ask, Kelsi Marie Nielson, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" She screamed, tears of joy streaming down her face.

He slipped the ring on her finger, then picked her and swung her around. And the whole crowd cheered.

* * *

**End the whole story here or epilogue? Opinions please. :)**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Epilogue

**Yes, this is officially The Final Chapter. I know, I know, it's hard to believe. A year and a half, a million hours of daydreaming, at least five "illegal" updates, and 29 chapters later…it's done. I was sitting in class writing this and when I got done, TEARS were actually in my eyes because I have NEVER been so invested in anything that I've written before and it's so unbelievable that it's just…done. **

* * *

1 ½ Years Later

It was Kelsi and Jason's first year anniversary, and the whole gang was gathered around a table at Playmakers.

Sharpay and Zeke had finally moved in together and were engaged, but there was no set date for the wedding yet.

Taylor had given birth to her and Chad's first child, or children- twins, a boy and a girl, four months earlier. Ryleigh was kneeling in front of them, totally fascinated by their tiny fingers and toes.

Ryan was sitting with Beth, his girlfriend of eight months who he pretty serious with. She fit in easily- they all liked her- and she had quickly become the newest member of their group.

Gabriella was holding Christian, her seven month old son, the pregnancy test with two pink lines hidden away in her bad as she waited for the perfect moment to tell Troy.

They were all sitting around, talking and laughing, when Kelsi stood up, putting her hands around her huge, swollen stomach. "It's coming!" She yelled. "The baby is coming!"

Jason was up in a heartbeat, putting his arms around her as he led her out to the car. Everyone followed, leaving the food and presents forgotten on the table.

Kelsi was rushed to the delivery room as soon as they got to the hospital. All of them except for Jason waited in the waiting room. Within minutes, Kelsi's mom was there and went straight to the delivery room to wait for her new grand child.

Hours passed, and finally, after eight long hours, the baby was out.

Jason ran out smiling. "Everyone, come meet our new daughter!"

They all rushed in and saw Kelsi, looking sweaty and tired, but happy, with a tiny pink screaming baby in her arms.

"This," She said. "Is Emily Paige Cross."

Kelsi's mom was beaming, happy that the baby was named after her.

"She's beautiful, Kelsi." Troy said, sticking his finger inside Emily's tiny fist.

"Well, I'm glad you think so Troy." Gabriella said from behind him. "Because I'm pregnant."

"Again?" Taylor teased. "I guess we all know what you guys have been doing!" Their laughter filled the tiny room as they congratulated Gabriella and Troy and each took turns looking at the tiny, wrinkled, beautiful new life Jason and Kelsi had created.

Anyone who walked past that room that night could see the pure happiness shining in each of their lives, the love and joy echoing in their smiles and laughter. The road that led them there was filled with pain and heartbreak, but the happy ending was worth every second of it. And they knew that, at least for two of those lives, they never would have had a happy ending if it wasn't for a place called Playmakers.

* * *

**And that is the end. :( It looked longer hand written, I swear! I know this is REALLY short, and I didn't realize it until it was all typed up. Sorry :(. And now that it's over, I have the urge to write a sequel! It will be a while though, because I don't have regular access to the internet right now. Please review; I'd like to know what everyone thought of the story as a whole and how it progressed and if you think the ending even fit the story. And I know how unrealistic the ending is, but I only do happy endings, period, and I think you would all say that they definitely deserved their happily-ever-after's. :)**


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